Beyond The Hakurei Barrier
by Jake The Mildly Insane
Summary: Jacob 'Kenneth' was not a person too different from anyone else. Through his troubled life, he lost his hope of becoming something more than average. He became recluse, and eventually offered himself to be sent to Japan as a foreign exchange student, wishing to appease his family. Unknown to him, the first day off of the plane had set him on the path to becoming something more.
1. A Forementioning

A few things before reading,

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Disclaimer : This is a work of fiction featuring characters and locations from the Touhou Project series. Neither this work, nor myself are affiliated with Team Shanghai Alice, the creator of the Touhou Project series. As such, I have no ownership of the Touhou Project series, and credit for its content goes to Team Shanghai Alice, not myself.

This story is rated T for the following : Bloodletting violence, violence excluding serious injury, depicted use of alcohol, and topics including depression and mental instability.

Author's Note : This is, as previously stated, a work of fiction, written from the first person perspective, and is a self-insert type story. I have attempted to keep the story as close to canonical information of the Touhou Project as possible, however, there still may be some conflicts. Information I could not otherwise gather are filled in with inferences.

If you like my work, please let me know. One way to let me know is through a review. I really appreciate reviews, as they tell me how you feel about my writing, what mistakes I may have made, and how I can improve upon and fix them. In addition they show that the reviewer was willing to take their time to let me know how they felt about my work, which means a lot to me. Also, in reviews, if you wish to point out a mistake that occurs, please be specific, as it may occur in only some places, or it may be a recurring issue. If only vaguely hinted to a problem, I will likely be unable to correct it. I also must ask for reviewers to keep in mind that I have put a lot of effort into this story, and to keep reviews appropriate.

Thank you for reading my notes. Now, the start of the prologue.

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I was just another teenage boy, and I just expected to live a mediocre life, getting by like everyone else. I didn't imagine myself doing anything extraordinary. I assumed I was below excellence. It wasn't that I really was, but I had dealt with all the problems in the life of an ordinary teenager. I had to deal with bullying, learning things to make a life for myself in the future, and personal family troubles. One such was when I was practically drafted to go to Japan as a foreign exchange student. I knew I would have to start over. There was one thing that I was worried about. As a younger child, my life was a very tormented one. I was constantly picked on, never left to myself. Seemingly everyone wanted to watch me fall. Because of that, I had become hateful, aggressive, vindictive, and overall, borderline unstable. It had been years since that part of my life had passed its climax, and I got past it with no small amount of difficulty. I changed myself for the better. Rather than offering suffering and misery to all of those who tormented me, and wanting to watch the world around me burn, I offered forgiveness, and was happy to look past the dark veil that enshrouded life as I knew it. I was afraid that if I needed to start over again, the evil within me would show itself. I had buried it deep within my conscience, and hoped to never be haunted by it again. I was sent across the ocean with only fears, and not much to look forward to.


	2. Arrival

I was walking to my apartment, in a large city that was near a beach. Then I heard a somewhat frightened voice.

"Leave me alone! What do you want?!" I saw what it was. A girl who appeared to be about my age was being approached by two strangers. She was wearing a purple shirt, and a light blue pair of jeans with a cloth belt. Her hair was tied back in a pony-tail with a pink bow. She was cornered, and the two didn't stop. I cleared my throat, not about to leave her on her own.

"Would you two not harass the poor lady? I'd hate to have to use this." I forebodingly urged them away, brandishing a can of pepper spray, bearing my intimidating smirk. If it failed, I still had my heavy suitcase, and my luggage case which I had been pulling behind. They didn't take long to get the message, less than a second really. They dashed off into the intersecting alley, and left the girl in the corner. She still had her hands over her heart, still frightened. Despite having nearly been kidnapped, the girl just stayed there, looking at me. She looked once more to make sure her pursuers were gone, then she walked over to me. "Thank you. Those two wouldn't stop following me." She looked up at me with an appreciative smile, her purple eyes making contact with mine. "Anyway, I should introduce myself. I'm Patchouli Knowledge. What's your name?"

"Jacob... So you're sure you're alright?"

"Certain. Thanks to you that is. Say, not to intrude, but what are you doing around here Jacob?"

"I'm here as a foreign exchange student. I'm from The United States. How'd you guess?"

"You don't seem to have unpacked your things. Oh. Perhaps I'll be seeing you at school then. If so, see you then." Then she walked away as if nothing had happened. I found my apartment, not a most regal dwelling. I wasn't too fond of the height it was placed at, nor was I of many other conditions regarding it, but I hadn't much of a choice.


	3. Apparent Solution

Meanwhile, Patchouli arrived at her own apartment. She went inside, and dialed a number, and received an answer.

"Hello?"

"Hello Ms. Yakumo. I have something I need to talk to you about." She explained.

"And that is?"

"You must know how our powers are severely depleted when we enter this world, and exit Gensokyo?"

"Yes, of course."

"I was threatened today, but somebody helped me. I think he's worth mentioning."

"A man? Are you seriously out dating men from the other world?"

"No! He saved my life. I never had met him before, but I could sense something about him. He could have magic like that you and I possess, but they're being suppressed by the same force that suppresses our own power in the outside world. His name is Jacob. Now I need you to bring me to Mistress Remilia. I need to make sure we end up in the same place."

"Very well. I almost want to see if he's as ugly as I imagine."

"Yukari, he could be the solution to our problem. He could have strength greater than either of us."

"That might be true. Regardless, I at least have to notify Reimu before you can bring him through the barrier."

"If you feel so on the matter, contact her."

"You truly feel confident about him, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Very well. Tell me, how do you know if he really does have any power at all?"

"I don't, but we have to start somewhere, and he's the best chance we have so far." Yukari then opened a gap next to Patchouli, and she walked in, returning to Gensokyo.


	4. Settling In

"Well... Today's the last day of summer... Brilliant. Starting a new year in a new country is not exactly how I intended things to be... I would rather go to England, or someplace I could understand a bit better." I groaned aloud, reminiscing over the summer. It was evening, my last free day nearing its end. "I'd better make sure I have all of my supplies ready." Then I turned, and while looking down, stopped myself from stepping in a stain on the carpet. Then I knew what I had to do. I left the apartment, went to a nearby store, and bought half a dozen bottles of carpet cleaning formula, and a face mask and some goggles, as well as eight bottles of ammonia, three bottles of window cleaner, two bottles of bleach, and ten canisters of air freshener. The cashier looked at me oddly. "My apartment's absolutely filthy, if you're wondering. You might just see me back here for a second run if I can't get it clean with all of this." I then paid for the supplies, walked home, and once I got inside, put on the mask. "Alright then... Where to start. I guess the bathroom... Oh you've got to be kidding me... I didn't get a mop..." Then, I had to walk all the way back to the store, and buy a mop. In order to avoid another unnecessary trip, I bought a sponge, and a duster. I finally was ready to use the last of my summer to prepare myself for the coming year. I scrubbed the counters until they were spotless. I scattered the dry carpet cleaner, then finished the stains off with the spray cleaner, and made sure to keep only my socks on and to walk on my toes. I dusted the shelves, furniture, mopped the bathroom, bleached the bathtub, wiped down the windows, and sanitized the bed sheets and mattress, but then I noticed one more thing that would cause yet one more trip to the store. A lightbulb had burnt out. I walked to the store yet again, cursing under my breath, bought more lightbulbs than I needed, then went on to replace every one in my apartment. To finish it off, I opened the windows, and sprayed the air freshener, and waited for everything to dry. It still left an unpleasant smell of detergents and air freshener, so I decided to go on a walk. I sat in a park not far away on a bench. I watched the cherry blossoms as the Sun met the hills in the distance.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A familiar voice caught my attention. I looked over, and saw Patchouli. "Can I sit with you?"

"Sure." I replied. I wasn't exactly sure what it was about her, but I enjoyed her presence. The two of us watched the sunset silently, then Patchouli continued.

"Thank you for today."

"No problem." I then put a hand to my forehead with grim realization.

"Is something wrong, Jacob?"

"It's just that I'm an exchange student. It hurts to think that we won't be able to see each other forever... I can't bear to lose friends in such a way... One day I'll have to go home, and I'll never see you again..."

"Maybe that isn't entirely true. If it is the case, then let's be friends while we can still see each other, and make the best of everything."

"Yeah," I smiled a bit, still looking at my feet. "I'd like that." I turned my head to look at her, and couldn't help but return her heart-warming smile. I brushed my unkempt brown locks to the side from obstructing my view of her, and she seemed to almost giggle at my silly display. It felt good to be near her. It was almost as if she knew who I was, and understood me. This much could not be said about most people. She probably had no idea what I went through to clean my apartment, and my almost shoulder length uncombed hair would probably have helped to lead her to think I wasn't exactly the neat type.

"I saw you going around town a lot earlier. Is there anything you need help with?"

"Not really. I was just going between my apartment and the general supplies shop. I kept forgetting stuff, but now my apartment is clean, almost to my standards."

"Ah, I understand. Now I understand why you were carrying so many bags, and a mop."

"Yeah. I'm not a germ-o-phobe, but I would rather have the peace of mind that the place is sanitized, and that stain isn't going to give me some type of nasty disease. 'Breaking news! Exchange student hospitalized! Contracts severe foot rash!'" Patchouli giggled a bit more, still keeping her alluring smile.

"You amaze me, Jacob. You risked your life for me, a total stranger, and now you treat me like we've known each other forever. How is that?"

"I just like to make friends. If I'm not making friends, then for all I know, I could be making enemies."

"Well, that's a way to think about it. I'll just say, whether you try or not, you're quite charismatic."

"Why, thanks. You're one of few to think of me that way."

"You're welcome.." Then we continued to watch. This time, I broke the silence.

"Patchouli?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. It means a lot to me to have you as a friend, even if I just met you. I may seem all up and happy, but, things aren't all as they seem with me. I really did not want to come here, but I didn't really have a choice. I miss my family, and I know it's going to be a long time until I see them again. Thank you for being my friend at a time like this. I haven't had too many good friends, and I've had more enemies than friends. Every friend I can get is very important to me. If you ever need anything, just let me know."

"That's very kind of you to offer, but I should be making you that offer."

"Don't worry. I can handle myself well enough. Thank you for the offer though."

"Of course." Then silence fell, and remained until I stood up a few minutes later.

"I should probably be going. I need to wake up on time for school."

"Okay. See you later Jacob." I waved farewell, and went to the place I would have to call home for the duration of my stay. When I arrived, a single sniff was enough to tell me I needed to spray a bit more air freshener. I did so, and tried to get past the odor as I went and took my shower, brushed my teeth, and lay down in bed for the last time of the summer.


	5. Confirmation

"Mistress, you say that you have made it arranged that we are in the same classes, correct?" Patchouli asked Remilia.

"Yes, Patchouli."

"There is a problem that came to mind. The way you say that fate is only fate if it is unknown to whomever it is fate of. It makes me think that since I know, it may not work."

"That statement is a half-truth. Fate can only be avoided if the one it concerns actively intends to avoid it. Unless you made specific arrangements to not be in the class with this 'Jacob' you mentioned, everything will go on as I have arranged. Oh, and did you expect that romantic meeting with him in the park?" Patchouli blushed a bit at her mistress's teasing.

"Well, not really… I just saw him, and… Did you arrange that?"

"No, but it's good to see you talking to people."

"I see… Why did you think of it as romantic?"

"That was a joke. Don't worry, everything will work out as planned." With that, Patchouli left.


	6. The Beginning of School

The first day of school started with another dull morning for me. I just got up, made some coffee, drank it, brushed my teeth, and nearly vomited everything back up when I smelled the trash bin. I used some air freshener, and hoped for the best.

"Does Patchouli go to the school I'm headed for?" I asked myself. I found that I had some anticipation for the first day of school, as little sense as that made. I looked in the mirror, got some water on my hands, and made sure my hair was at least acceptable. Then I put on my favorite outfit. A pair of green cargo-pants, a blue shirt, and red sweatshirt over it. I thought of Patchouli again. The day before, she had worn fashionable clothing, where that day, I just wore some blue jeans with holes in them, and a gray shirt. Now I put on my boots, coat, and backpack, then finally set out. I walked, along the sidewalk that was starting to come to life. The cool morning breeze blowing through my long uncombed hair. I finally saw the place I would be staying during the weekdays. I only could identify it by the characters I had seen on my schedule before. It was a large building with no shortage of windows to show that it was lit and alive. I reached into my coat pocket, and unfolded the schedule for my classes. Being myself, I landed in the advanced classes, which wasn't a problem if you didn't mind being referred to as a nerd, given that you weren't the dork I made myself to be back in seventh grade, when I had apparently been misplaced, then switched through about five classes, as the school's organization was sub-par. I was going to be learning advanced placement level calculus in my junior year. I kept walking until I could almost touch the gate. I stopped, looked up at the impressive building before me once again. "Back to business..." I muttered, pushing the doors open, and walking in, the first step to finding home room. I looked about, apparently inconspicuous enough to not draw a single gaze. Then I found myself to be incorrect, as I looked a bit further, and saw Patchouli waving at me. I returned the gesture, and maneuvered through the crowd that was becoming ever more dense, which took no small amount of skill to do without bumping into someone. Finally, we were close enough to hear each other over the massive amount of chatter going on around us. I initiated the conversation. "Hi Patchouli."

"Hello Jacob."

"Oh. Sorry I couldn't tell you what school I was going to be attending. Honestly, I don't think I know how to pronounce it. Luckily they stamped it on the schedules."

"No need to worry, I could tell, this isn't far from where your apartment was."

"Ah. So, want to compare classes to see if we've got any in common?" I inquired, expecting several matches on core classes. It was an assumption, but the fact that her surname was Knowledge led me to believe she was rather intelligent.

"That sounds good." I stood next to her, and held my schedule next to hers. As hard as it was to believe, Jacob Kenneth to Patchouli Knowledge and vice versa was the only discrepancy between the schedules. We had the same classes all throughout the year. Oh, and yes, to maintain my relative anonymity, as well as those who share my surname, I shall write my last name to be Kenneth.

"Well look at that. The same classes. That doesn't happen too often."

"No, it doesn't. You won't find me unhappy with this. I'm glad I get to be in class with you, Jacob."

"As am I to be in class with you, Ms. Knowledge. Should we get going to avoid this crowd? I wouldn't want to be here when the bell rings. This herd might just become a stampede." I knew that it was always a possibility to get trampled in school, and I did not feel like trying it out. I doubted Patchouli felt like getting run over either.

"That's a good idea. It's a pretty big crowd in here. So, are you good at finding your way around school? I have no idea where I'm going, and I'd rather not ask anyone else for help, so I waved you over."

"Alright, I can try to help you out, after all, we're in the same boat here."

"Boat?"

"It's an idiom. Don't worry, no real boats here."

"I see. Shall we be going?"

"Sure, follow me." I looked at the schedule numbers and headed out for math class, my home room class. Patchouli walked beside me.

"Have you ever transferred schools before? You're taking this pretty well."

"Not really, but I think I know what I'm doing."

"I guess I got lucky to have you to guide me."

"I suppose so, as long as we get to where we're going." Then we found the room. "Here we are. See? It's almost like playing minesweeper. Well, not really... Just follow the numbers in descending or ascending order, and you always get to where you need."

"Minesweeper? What is that?" Then I realized, I didn't really know what minesweeper even was. The last time I played it was when I was five years old, and I just clicked about furiously. I only really knew anything about it because I had heard people talk about it in the past, and I only vaguely remembered what anyone ever said about it.

"Eh... Nothing... Just some game people play..."

"Oh. So, should we go in this early?"

"I don't see why not. They shouldn't send hounds after us for it."

"Hounds?"

"Uh... Never mind..." I cut the hound conversation there, as Patchouli was even more confused at the mention of hounds than when I mentioned minesweeper. "So, let's head on in." Then I opened the door, and saw only the teacher. I had flashbacks to being the first person to homeroom every day at my old school. Now only I was thousands of kilometers away from home, and I had a friend with me. I wonder how anyone back at my school would have reacted to me falling into old habits, then again, they'd probably not have cared, as it was what they were used to as well. A new teacher, a new school, a new friend. My slate couldn't have been much cleaner than it was right then. Then I noticed someone else was there. He was about my age by what I could tell, for once it seemed I was in a class not just with people in the next two grades, and oddly, he had beaten meto class. I wasn't quite sure to be shocked or impressed, so I decided to be both. I looked at Patchouli, and saw her eyes widened slightly. I was confused. Did she expect us to be in the class first, or did she see something I didn't? I patted her on the back, bringing her attention back to me. "Don't worry Patchouli, second place isn't bad at all."

"It's not that, it's just..."

"Am I that odd?" The stranger asked.

"No, she's just a bit surprised that we weren't the first ones here, as early as we came up."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. So we're all in the same class, eh? I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Jacob Kenneth, and this is my friend, Patchouli Knowledge. It is nice to meet you."

"My name's Jakob Wolfgang, is your friend alright there?" I patted her on the back again

"Yeah, she's fine." Then, Patchouli and I sat next to him.

"He is right though. Second place isn't bad, but those who show up last are the ones that are pathetic." He continued.

"Pathetic or tardy?" I replied jokingly.

"Either way works really."

"Indeed." Then the conversation was interrupted by the bell. "And here comes that stampede."

"Oh, do you know what minesweeper is?" Patchouli asked Jakob. He just stared at her with a look of confusion at her extremely unrelated comment.

"Uh... It's a game... Of sorts..."

"I made an analogy if you're wondering." I explained

"What were you comparing to that?"

"Finding classes... I know, it's lame..." I elaborated, as humiliating as it was. Then the other students came in and took their seats. They almost didn't seem to notice that the three of us were sitting there before they even were upstairs. A few spots were empty, but never filled, as a silence fell in the hall, the classroom, in the school overall. The class consisted of just the teacher introducing himself to have a name I still can neither pronounce nor spell Then we went to our next class through the halls packed full of students. I held Patchouli's hand to keep her from falling behind, and luckily I did, because I'm more than certain she would have been swallowed by the crowd, and I'd have needed to wait for it to dissipate in order to retrieve her. I looked back, and saw she was smiling, at me. Wasn't I lucky? I was guiding a friend to class and she liked me for it. I made certain to not get trampled to death, not me nor Patchouli. I followed the numbers, and there we were, Language Arts. I turned again to notify Patchouli of our arrival. "We're here, we should head in before we get run over."

"Alright." She replied, still smiling.

"Okay then. let's go." We let go of each other's hands, and went in. That class went pretty similar, no really important events transpiring. I didn't even remember that teacher's name. So we then needed to go to Science class, or introduction three. Once again, pulling Patchouli along with me. Then I noticed Patchouli started to pull back. I immediately stopped, and looked back to see her face was becoming pale, and she was wheezing. Her breathing was rapid, and almost frantic. She was rifling through her purse when she pulled out an inhaler, but the moment she did, she fell forward. "No!" I yelled, not willing to lose my best friend in a place so far from home. I caught the inhaler with my left hand, and caught her, supporting her weight with my right shoulder. I managed to get into a crouching position, and lay her across my lap. I began to sweat, I could feel my heart pounding, it was up to me to save her. I never used an inhaler, but I understood the concept of it. I held it to her mouth, and squeezed the button. "Come on Patchouli! Please! Breathe!" At first, she barely managed to breathe, still wheezing. I held the button down again, and felt a wave of relief when she started to breathe more easily. Then I looked about, terrified that not a single person had stopped, not one was concerned with the fact that Patchouli was in life threatening danger. It was not possible that nobody had noticed me on my knees, holding her up, literally administering her inhaler because she was unable to. It was not exactly a space saving activity, and people would literally have had to move around us. If I had not been there, she may have died. She held onto my right shoulder with her left arm. She pulled herself close. I held her in my arms, barely maintaining my composure. I had read the school handbook, yes, and I know what was going on was probably easy to mistake for a public display of affection. I was on my knees, holding my only friend in my arms, and still nobody noticed. We were just two people in such a crowd, so large a crowd, that it didn't matter what happened there. I helped Patchouli back to her feet.

"Thank you Jacob..."

"Don't worry Patchouli..." I wiped the immense amount sweat off of my brow. It made my hair stand off to the direction I brushed it in, leaving my forehead exposed for a brief couple of seconds before it fell back to normal. "I'm just glad you're alright."  
"I am, thanks to you... I'm sorry I scared you there. It was just so sudden."

"It's alright. I had no idea you were asthmatic."

"I probably should have let you know. It's my fault, but now that I'm alright, shall we keep on the way?"

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the office to get you to a doctor?"

"That shouldn't be necessary." She insisted, as she took my hand again, smiling that ever so endearing smile. I couldn't argue with her. I handed back her inhaler, and led on. I was amazed just how sudden it was. I had looked back occasionally, as I did while guiding her, then, the next moment, she started pulling on me to get me to stop, then she collapsed. Now we sat beside each other once again. Despite having interest in science, I did drift off during class, so I didn't remember that teacher's name either. It was time to head on to my break, lunch. Patchouli and I sat together again there, at our own table. Jakob sat down at the table too, across from us. I had brought my own lunch. Patchouli got her lunch, as did Jakob, then they came back. Someone else sat down next to us. She had pink hair, and her eyes were only a slightly darker shade of her hair. She had three trays of food for lunch. I stared over, not sure exactly how to react. "Hi..." I managed to punch through my confusion.

"Hi there." She replied. She didn't seem to realize just how strange it seemed to me for her to have not one, not two, but three lunches. I turned back to normal, trying to just think of it as a perfectly usual thing. I opened my lunchbox, and sipped some of the tea I had packed. Suddenly, some soy sauce splattered on my cheek. I looked over, and the new girl was holding a packet of said condiment, and just looked at me with an expression of remorse. "Oh... Sorry..." She chuckled nervously. I wiped the sauce off of my face, and went back to lunch. I was a vegetarian, and because I lived in a rural area, I didn't eat much normally, as meat was mostly what people from my area ate.

"By the way, this is my friend, Yuyuko Saigyouji." Jakob explained. Did I really want to get into introductions again? I still couldn't get over the three lunches. Then my mannerly side showed up again.

"Hello Yuyuko, my name's Jacob Kenneth."

"Hi!" She replied, giving away the fact that her mouth was full of food. I knew better than to cringe in response to the disturbing sight, so I just acted like I hadn't seen a thing. I cracked a nervous grin, but inside, my stomach twisted a bit. I focused back on my lunch for a moment, then I saw Patchouli was reading a book she retrieved from her purse. I was glad it was a book and not an inhaler that time, because two asthma attacks in one day would have been very bad. In an attempt that could have truly backfired in hindsight, I stuffed a few crackers into my face to nullify my stomach's own cringing. That did not work, and I started feeling cold from nausea. That time, it was Patchouli patting me on the back. The fact that I was face-down on the table was probably a giveaway that something wasn't right with me.

"Are you alright?" She asked, still trying to shake me back to my senses.

"Uhh... Yeah... I guess..." I figured out what went wrong. I had actually hit that thing at the back of my throat, but still somehow held firm when it comes to containing my stomach fluids. I could tell because I felt some crumbs collected on it. I got up and went to the bathroom, gargled some water to remove the crumbs, and returned. Everyone at the table stared at me. I looked at one of my hands, and saw that I was getting to be rather pale. "Well that's not pleasant at all..." At least I was going to survive the rest of the day, at least I hoped. As I sat down, it happened again. No, I didn't carelessly cram even more crackers into my mouth, but rather, I got soy sauce splattered in my face a second time. I slapped my forehead, and didn't even have to look at Yuyuko. She slid a napkin over to me, and I tried to get the sauce out of my hair. At least it didn't get in my eye. The awkward silence lasted a while, then was broken when a clump of rice sped next to Patchouli's head as she read. I saw who did it. I stood up, my temper flaring a bit. "Watch what you're doing over there you moron!" I sat back down, my face reddened from the feeling of confronting someone. "Some people!" I angrily vented in a slightly condescending manner.

"You okay there buddy?" Jakob asked.

"Yeah, I think... I'm going to pelt that kid with an apple if he does that again... I'll have you know I know how to throw things, and hard..." With my venting session complete, I turned to Patchouli. "He didn't hit you did he? If he did then I'll..."

"He didn't hit me."

"Okay then." I cooled down. I could wait on pelting the punk with fruits, or so I thought. Suddenly, a single bean hit Patchouli in the side of the head. I immediately stood, ready to just about explode with the force of an atomic bomb. I marched over, each stomp indicating the temperament of my pure rage. I was not an incredibly threatening person, normally. I was tall, and thin, but had more muscle than met the eye. With a careful expression in most situations, I had a typically peaceful demeanor. However, when I was infuriated, or simply wanted to scare someone, I could be outright terrifying, and I had the strength to back it up. That punk was going to learn that the hard way. I grabbed the student by the collar, lifting him up. "Who do you think you are?! Going around throwing food at people?! You're worse than a child!" I threw him back down on the bench and turned to walk away. Then he prompted it without knowing. He threw another bean, hitting me. He did not know I already had the apple in my sweatshirt pocket. I turned, and threw it so hard that it literally burst on impact. I marched back, sitting down, feeling my temperature bringing my sweat to a near steaming point. First day of school, and I already felt like I was about to earn quite the reputation. I noticed that after the crack of the apple splitting, the entire cafeteria fell into silence. I showed that I was not going to be messed with, nor were my friends. Things didn't look to good for me. I was probably going to get into quite some trouble for what I had just done, but then some student somewhere yelled something in Japanese that I could only assume meant 'food fight.' Then chaos was unleashed. I slapped myself in the forehead yet again. "I never asked for this..."

"I guess all it takes is one person to stand to cause a fanatical uprising." Jakob explained.

"Then shouldn't they be throwing stuff at that guy I just pelted?"

"Eh, I guess. Grenade!" He yelled, as he threw a pear at the targeted suspect. Patchouli and I understood the better of the situation.

"Maybe we should get going before..."

"Before something hits us? I agree." Patchouli predicted my suggestion.

"Yeah, luckily we're close to that door, and I doubt anyone will notice us, there's a cloud of fruit over there." We walked out, surprisingly not under fire, probably because nobody wanted to be my next target of a good smack down. We sat outside, as several school authorities rushed in, trying to bring order to the madness. "Good luck in there..." I jokingly called to one of them as they ran in. Thanks to that one kid who yelled out that madness-causing phrase, I was completely off the radar. I went into the bathroom, and took a wad of paper towels to dry off. I sat next to Patchouli again, and suddenly, Jakob and Yuyuko ran out, somewhat drenched in what I can only guess was fruit juice.

"Gonna' need that towel." Jakob stated. I tossed it without objection. It wasn't too sweaty, as most of mine had evaporated by the time I used it. The schedule experienced some repercussions from the conflict. Somehow, we were supposed to go to first U.A. instead of fourth core class. It just so happened to be the one class that could be a living nightmare for the one person sitting next to me. Patchouli. The class was Physical Education. Fortunately, we wouldn't have to do any exercise on the very first day, at least I hoped. I stood up, and Patchouli did the same. The stampede returned, flooding the halls. I supposed they were refugees from the school authorities' jurisdiction. Patchouli already knew what we were going to have to go through again, and grabbed my hand. We went again through the ever frustrating torrent of people. It was even harder to get to P.E. because everyone was still stirred up from the event that had just transpired. We stayed close to the walls, and I pushed forward, stride by stride. It eventually worked out, and we pushed open the door to the empty gymnasium.

"Where is everyone?" Patchouli asked.

"No idea. Perhaps tossing shoes around in the hall?"

"That does sound about right..." The two of us then sat down on the bleachers. It took a while for the rest of the student body to realize the schedule shift. We sat in there alone for at least thirty minutes. Patchouli read to entertain herself, and I didn't want to bug her, and ended up falling asleep practically, and nearly landing on my head. I landed on my upper back instead, startling me awake in a most unpleasant manner. I coughed in response to the sudden shock to my trachea, and it took a while to stop. Patchouli stared at my clumsy display. I looked up at her and shrugged.

"What can I say? I sleep when I get bored." I explained. Then I resolved to just leaning back, using the seats behind me for support, rather than to risk a repeat performance by taking another power-nap. Finally everyone else arrived, and by that time, the school officials knew there was a big problem. There was hardly enough time left in the day to fit in another U.A. introduction, and our first had hardly even started when the announcement acknowledging that came on. There was going to be an early dismissal. "Yes...!" I quietly cheered to myself. After my run through with that punk at lunch, I had taken enough school for one day. When the announcement for the dismissal came on, I leaned against the wall of the gymnasium, and decided to wait out the crowd. Jakob had found me, and walked over with a hand raised, obviously wanting a high-five for my cutting of the day. That wordless request I granted. Patchouli waited for me, leaving me confused. "Don't you have somewhere you're heading?"

"Well, of course, but I was wondering if you mind if I stopped by today."

"Well, sure. Don't mind the smell too much, I still need to keep spraying air freshener. All those cleaning agents have mixing odors." Then I realized I still hadn't taken out the absolutely horrid thing referred to as 'the trash.' I knew that if she smelled that monstrosity, she'd probably not want to visit me again, ever. "Oh, and I may need to make a few last second preparations, if that's okay. Do you have any way to kill a few minutes while I work?"

"I can read."

"Perfect." Then the two of us walked to my apartment complex. It started to rain, and I shoved the door open, and looked back. "Where did you get that umbrella?" I inquired, seeing as she didn't have one a few seconds prior.

"I had it in my purse."

"Right then." I walked in, and stormed up the stairs to my apartment room, opened the door, and put on my mask and goggles, and sprayed the living heck out of the trash can with my trusty air freshener. I brought it to the main dumpster downstairs and outside. I walked outside, and what I saw was enough to make me forget to hold onto the trash can. The two people I threatened to pepper-spray before had come back. They were standing to the side, unbeknownst to Patchouli, and I could tell they were up to no good, as one was pointing at her. Then I drew my favorite red canister. I popped off the cap, and charged with a battle cry, spraying madly. I was glad I had all the equipment, as I sprayed enough to take myself down as well, were it not for my mask and goggles. One of them fell down, and the other ran off, but Jakob came out of an alley, and smacked him in the head with an umbrella. He leaned around the corner.

"You're welcome." He said as he kicked the man's head lightly. Disappearing again without another word said. I had noticed a wanted criminals section in the newspaper with their faces on it, as there was a newspaper dispenser nearby, with said section facing outward. I shrugged, then dialed a certain three digit number on the man's phone, and left in on him as I escorted Patchouli inside. I opened the door for her. "Well, here it is, the place I get to call home. For a long time too. As much as I saturated this carpet with cleaner, I'd still recommend keeping your shoes on."

"It smells nice in here."

"Oh, that's right." I slapped my forehead, as I remembered that I had dropped the entire trash can in the dumpster. It was a worthy sacrifice to protect Patchouli. Where was I supposed to put all of the empty bottles of cleaner if I didn't have a trash bin? That added another trip to that store. "Well, on an unrelated note, I have to head back to the store later. Is there anything you might need there?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Alright." I opened the refrigerator to see if there was any food that was immediately ready. Then there was one flaw with that plan, I had no idea what Patchouli liked. Since I was a vegetarian, it was practically crammed with vegetables and fruit. I could quickly make a snack or something, but it might only have been a snack by my standards. "Uh... Is there anything you'd like for a snack?"

"I guess some coffee would be nice."  
"Okay then." I used the coffee machine to brew two small cups of the aforementioned beverage. "Any specifications?"

"Such as?"

"How much sugar, things like that?"

"Oh, I can do that myself, thank you." She walked over and enhanced the cup to her liking. I put half a teaspoon of sugar into mine, and that was good enough for me. Even though it was still hot, I drank it. I really didn't care too much about temperature, it always tasted about the same to me. Then I noticed one thing. Right in front of me on the counter lay a shaving razor I had previously used. Patchouli must not have noticed it. I crammed it into my pocket, snapping the handle accidentally.

"Hm?" She became aware of the noise.

"Nothing, just cracking my knuckles..." She turned back to her coffee, and I cautiously cleaned the blood off of my finger. Fortunately the razor just gave me a bit of a scratch, so it stopped bleeding quickly enough. I would have thrown the razor away, but the trash can was gone. I went over to my bed, and sat cross-legged on it after removing my shoes. Patchouli sat next to me, still holding her coffee.

"Thank you for standing up for me today."

"No worries. That punk deserved a good telling off. If not from me, then somebody else."

"Not just that. Just a few minutes ago. It was the same two that had accosted me before. You and your friend stopped them again."

"Yeah, I have a feeling they won't be bothering you any more." I assured her with a bit of a grin.

"Thanks to you, that is." Then my telephone on my nightstand rang. I leaned over and grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"How was your first day honey?" It was my mother.

"Um..." I thought it better not to mention that I pulverized an apple on some kid's back. "Good..."

"Perfect. You think you can take it for two more years?"

"What choice do I have really? I can't afford a ticket back home, and I'm fairly certain your funds are otherwise being spent. Besides mom, you know I'm pretty resilient."

"Just like you always have been. Just know that we're proud of you, and we wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks. I might need it..."

"What was that?"

"Oh nothing."

"Okay. Bye, love you."

"I love you too." I hung up the phone, and lay back on the bed. I had expected it to be a one school year deal, and hearing that it was two school years was not fun for me at all. "Well Patchouli, I guess you're stuck with me for two years then." I was lucky enough to have my family be able to send money to support me, but they didn't have much to spare, as my cousin, who they practically had adopted, was in college. Each time I received money, it was about one hundred dollars, seventy for rent, ten for heating, and the leftover twenty dollars were other supplies, including food. When the food I had brought with me ran out, the possibility of me going hungry for some time wasn't too unrealistic. A plane ticket home would probably be worth at least seventy dollars. Patchouli stood up again, having finished her coffee. She placed her mug in the sink.

"Thank you for having me."

"You're welcome. Sorry if I disappointed you. I'm running on a very strict budget..."

"Don't worry, I'm glad I was able to visit."

"Good to hear. See you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow as well." With that, she left. I watched her walk away until I couldn't see her anymore. The two thugs had already been arrested, and I felt that much better about her safety in public. I then took a brief shower, and went to bed for the evening.


	7. Yuyuko's Explanation

Patchouli and Yuyuko met up at the apartment Patchouli was staying in.

"Ms. Saigyouji? Why were you at school with us today?"

"Ms. Yakumo sent me to watch you. I uh... I wasn't supposed to say that was I? Oops..."

"Probably not... Why did she send you?"

"She wants me to make sure you're behaving yourself. You know, the usual."

"Does she not believe me about Jacob?"

"Not truly. However, I can understand. I could sense that he had more power than most of the people in that school, oh, and I should mention Jakob Wolfgang. I think he is similar to Jacob, Kenneth."

"How so? I find Jacob to be quite unique." Patchouli replied with a smile.

"Uh... I mean having magic... Don't over think it, Patchy."

"Oh... I see... So will you try to convince her that I might be on to something?"

"Oh yeah, sure."


	8. Monotonous Education

The second day was going to go quite different I assumed, mostly because I had extreme doubt that I was going to cut a fourth of the day out of the schedule. I opened the coffee machine to make myself a cup, but then I noticed the coffee filter was still there. Then I remembered that I forgot to buy a new trash can. I hit myself in the forehead the hardest yet since I had entered the country. The feeling of my face being hit was all I had to keep me awake throughout the day. I also still had the broken razor sitting out on the counter.

"Well, that's a bit more out of my budget..." I lamented, knowing that my funds were already dwindling. I got ready and marched back to the school. This time I did not delay upon walking in like I had the first day. I went right in, saw Patchouli, and walked over. It started to become my routine. We went to our classes, this time with not as much trouble, and I knew to keep a much closer eye on Patchouli because of her asthma. The day went fine the rest of the way, and the punk at lunch sat at the opposite end of the cafeteria, and Yuyuko didn't splatter as much soy sauce on me. We were actually able to make it to all of our classes. We were then dismissed, and I remembered to go straight to the store, bought the trash can, and finally stabilized my residence. It was going to be a long two years. The same relative pattern was carried out for a few weeks, then a couple months, with occasional visits at home from Patchouli. Then I received a letter from home. That was because paying for my phone service was a bit too expensive. I started to worry, as I had used a significant amount of my initial budget on supplies.


	9. The Letter

To our dear son, Jacob

Your cousin is getting married soon and he wants you back at home to visit. We know that it may be difficult for you to afford transportation home, but this is a once in a lifetime occasion. We will continue to send funds, but we can't increase how much we send at the moment. You may need to cut back on any excess spending. The wedding will take place in a little over a week.

Love,

Mom and Dad


	10. Painful Preparations

I was relieved to receive word from my family again, but was disgusted by the succinctness of the letter. What was even worse was the incredibly short notice on which it was written.

"How can they expect me to make it in a week?!" I frustratedly asked myself. It was odd that neither my brother nor cousin had signed it. It was telling me to cut back on spending, and most of that already was going to go into essentials. The cost of a ticket was one hundred and seventy-five dollars, one hundred more than I had expected. That meant that I would have to go hungry for some time. I even took up work at a saké factory. I obviously wasn't an alcoholic, as I was merely seventeen. Fortunately my employers didn't seem to notice, or they just didn't care. More than once I vomited once I arrived from inhaling too many of the fumes from the liver-destroying product. It was not my ideal work, but openings were there, and it paid decently. One day though, Patchouli came to talk to me as I nauseously stumbled toward home. She was obviously confused when she saw me vomiting profusely. Luckily there were trash bins outside of the complex. I imagine I smelled horrible.

"Are you okay, Jacob?!" She asked.

"No... I hate my job..."

"You're working?!"

"I have to... I need to get home, and I have to pay for the ticket somehow..." I continued to expel my stomach contents.

"What? Where at?"

"Sake factory... It was my only option..."

"Okay then..." She left me alone, and continued to walk past as I proceeded to fall next to the trash bin.


	11. Deadline Set

Patchouli hurriedly continued on the path to her own apartment. She called Yukari again about the urgency of her objective.

"What is it this time, Patchouli? You shouldn't disturb me while I'm sleeping." Yukari reprimanded her.

"Aren't you always sleeping?"

"What is it?"

"Jacob is trying to leave Japan, and if he does, we won't be able to bring him through the barrier."

"Which one?"

"Kenneth. He's taken up work at a... Sake factory... We should find a way to bring him through before his health deteriorates, or he leaves the country."

"Excuse me? Did you say he works at a saké factory?"

"No, he isn't a drunk, I don't think he ever will be, as much as he was vomiting..."

"Okay then..."

"What I'm saying is that we need to get him through while we still can, our chance is fading away fast."

"I can't bring him through with a portal, it would kill anyone without unlocked magic potential. He hasn't been in Gensokyo yet. You'll have to bring him through at the Hakurei Shrine."

"Have you talked to Reimu Hakurei about this?"

"Well... No, not yet..."

"I asked you to do that months ago..."

"I had things to do..."

"Such as?"

"Sleeping..."

"Are you serious? We have a problem that may threaten all of Gensokyo, and you've been sleeping?"

"Okay, okay, I'll talk to her..."

"Good. I'll see if I can get him through."


	12. Through the Barrier

"I hate my job... I hate my job... I hate this." I muttered as I lightly hit my head against the wall. It was a weekend, so all I needed to do was go to work, which I already had done for the day. I finally started to wear my facemask at work, and it prevented me from getting as sick. I still was rather nauseous. Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. I opened it to find Patchouli once again. "Hi there..."

"Hello Jacob. You're not feeling too good, are you?"

"Not really..."

"Well, you've invited me to your home so many times, I think it's only fair that I showed you mine."

"You sure? I'd hate to ruin any carpets..."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Okay then..." She walked out the door, and I followed. That day I was wearing my favorite outfit again, luckily so. It was going to be my primary for a good while. She hailed a taxi, or whatever the Japanese equivalent of a taxi was. It brought us to a seemingly desolate area, the end of the city. Then she walked forth into what seemed to be the wilderness. I followed, confused. "Uh, Patchouli? Where are we going?"

"Don't worry, it's not much further."

"Okay then..." Eventually, after a lengthy climb up a hill, we came upon a shrine. "You live here?"

"Not exactly." She corrected me as she grabbed my hand. Then she walked forward a bit, and something happened. As she pulled me forward, we were in some place not the same. The Sun shone brightly, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and replaced the other not-as-scenic trees. I was not sure exactly how to react. I started to feel a bit odd. Almost as if I was full of energy, and not drowsy like I was seconds before. The shrine suddenly looked much better, more colorful, not dull with fading paint like it had previously. "Uh... Patchouli? What just happened?"

"Welcome to Gensokyo."

"Uh... What?"

"This is where I'm from." I noticed something, Patchouli wasn't exactly standing any more."

"Are you... Levitating...?"

"Yes."

"How...?" I was utterly shocked. She apparently could fly. I was confused, because if she had supernatural powers, why did I end up having to intervene when those thugs pestered her? "What's going on?" Then, suddenly, a dark haired and oddly dressed girl burst through the door, I guessed it was a thing having to do with shrines. She also held a wand of some sort. She was using one arm to block the overpowering sunlight, but one thing I could tell, she did not look happy. My head tilted slightly in an obvious display of confusion.

"Hello Ms. Hakurei." Patchouli calmly addressed her.

"Who the heck is that?!"

"Don't tell me Ms. Yakumo forgot again..."

"Forgot what?!" Patchouli facepalmed.

"Hey, you're learning from me."

"Shut it." The stranger angrily retorted.

"Alright then..."

"Well, if Yukari had spoken with you, she would have told you that Jacob here was going to be passing through."

"So she's involved with this? Maybe I should pay her a visit..."

"That won't be necessary." Patchouli protested.

"And it was necessary to bring that guy along?!"

"Yes, it was." I did not understand exactly why they were arguing. Apparently I was important enough to be the subject of argument. It wasn't exactly sure if that was a good or bad thing, but it seemed most likely to be the latter.

"Why would Yukari care if that hairball showed up here?!" That moment, a portal of some sort opened up nearby. Out of it walked a sleepy looking woman with long blonde hair.

"I'm here, I'm here..."

"Oh, good, just who I wanted to talk to." The rather unfriendly one blurted. "What the heck is with that guy?"

"Oh, that's right... Patchouli wanted me to tell you about him..." The newcomer explained. At that point, I felt a stinging everywhere. It started as if I was submerged in hot water, then it grew to even sharper pain. I knew that something was wrong, but I was hoping it would just stop, and that it was just my imagination, even though I knew it probably wouldn't.

"And so you didn't?"

"I was too tired..."

"Of course you were..."

"What's that supposed to mean, Reimu?" Then, they stopped as I collapsed. The pain had grown to a crippling burn. I lost muscle control, and every vein, every artery felt like it could burst. I lay on the ground twitching uncontrollably, and my vision even started to darken from the overload of pain. I noticed that whatever of myself that I could see was glowing faintly. I couldn't even speak, my jaw was clenched, and I couldn't control myself enough to open it. Patchouli squatted next to me.

"Jacob! Are you okay?!" She could tell something was terribly wrong, it didn't take a genius to figure out that much. She tried to shake me back to my senses, but each shake only caused more and more pain. I was sweating uncontrollably, and barely able to maintain consciousness. Slowly though, the pain subsided. It took quite a while to recover from what just happened to me. Everyone still stared at me, wondering if I was still conscious. I eventually started to become stable once more. My pulse returned to normal, my blood pressure declined from its dangerously elevated state, and my breathing became more regular, and not as erratic. I regained control of myself, and stood. I raised a hand in response to Patchouli about to check on me.

"It's alright... I'm fine... I think..." More than most anything else, I once more felt confusion. I had no idea exactly what happened, just pain and more pain. I got back up to my feet, shaking while doing so. I stumbled some, but managed to stand. Aches resonated throughout my entire body, but somehow I brushed it off.

"It was true..." Patchouli uttered in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" I wasn't sure why, but everyone seemed so focused on me, and I wasn't entirely sure what I was to them. I didn't know whether they thought I was, an invader, or an ally. I wasn't certain how I would find out.

"You do have power..."

"I don't understand. What just happened to me?!"

"That was the potential unlock..."

"Are you sure I didn't just die or something?"

"Certain. Now you have powers."

"Powers? What are you talking about? I was just in crippling pain, how did I gain anything?"

"That was your body adjusting to all the additional strength you received from entering Gensokyo."

"Additional strength?"

"You asked if I was levitating."

"Yes I did."

"Try to. Just think, command yourself to levitate. Like you would for say, jumping."

"Okay..." I wasn't sure exactly what she meant, but I tried. I just thought, and amazingly I was floating, and able to control it. It was so beautifully simple, yet so inexplainable. It was like doing anything else, where you just want to do it, command yourself to do it, and then, just do it. I still couldn't help but be nervous. I did not know the extent of my power, nor did I know if anyone else may use similar powers to do harm to people. If someone did, who would stop them?

"I should bring him to Mistress Remilia." Patchouli suggested. "Ms. Yakumo, if you would be so kind."

"Very well..." The sleepy one obliged. Another portal opened up, and she pulled me through it. After walking through, I was in a library. It was dark, and there weren't too many windows at all. I looked around.

"So... Do you live here then?" I asked Patchouli, hoping we'd met the end of this unnecessarily painful journey.

"I do, as a matter of fact. Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"So... I take it this is going to be a bit more than a visit..."

"Yes... I'm sorry I hadn't warned you about this..."

"It... I guess that it's alright..."

"Anyway, we need you in Gensokyo, we don't know exactly who, but someone or something threatens all of us. Everything you'll see since you crossed through will be destroyed if we can't stop them. If Gensokyo is destroyed, the outside world will be destroyed as well. I know you want to get home, but... In the time before your cousin's marriage, you wouldn't have been able to afford a ticket home."

"How did you know he's getting married?"

"I read over your shoulder."

"Figures. Anyways, you're right. I don't think there would be a point poisoning myself for a goal I can never accomplish in time..."

"I'm very sorry about that, but we still need your help here."

"What's your friend's name? The one with the portals?"

"Yukari."

"Yeah, I need to talk to her... I need to get a letter home..."

"That shouldn't be a problem, as long as she stays awake. We can start training you tomorrow, but for now, how about you work on the letters now so you can be ready in the morning."

"Is there a pen I can borrow?" Wordlessly, she pointed to a desk nearby with a quill and inkwell included, as well as a stack of paper. I got to writing.


	13. Grim Reply

To my dear family,

I know that you need me home, and I so wish to return, but I fear recent occurrences have resulted in my inability to fund my travel. I have no means to return home at the moment, and I will be gone for quite some time. Do not write me until I have sent you my next letter, for in that time span any letters received shall go unattended indefinitely. I truly wish that there was an alternative to the way fate has turned out, but there is none. I apologize for the diminutiveness of this message, but time is short, and I must be away. You have my best wishes.

Your son,

Jacob


	14. Crushing Misplacement

"Alright, it's done..." I called over to Patchouli.

"Very well. I will have it sent to Yukari soon. Leave it there so the ink can dry."

"Okay... I hope they understand..."

"We've already made arrangements if you did agree to stay here for the time being. You won't be registered at the school we went to in the other world for much longer. The staff is to believe you transferred home due to family crisis."

"I see..."

"Is something the matter?"

"Oh... Words cannot describe it..."

"What do you mean?"

"I have no idea when I will ever see my family again... With the addition of that threat you mentioned, the question changes from when to if... I'm not even in the same world as my family... I don't know if I could possibly feel more alone... Well, at least I still have you... Don't I?"

"Of course..." She tried to comfort me. I held my head in my hands.

"What did I get myself into...? I never asked for any of this... I never asked for magic powers, never asked to go to a new world, never asked to have to take up work just to get home, I never asked to be practically deported, and I never asked to only have one friend to support me all the while..." Patchouli remained silent. She could tell I was breaking. Tears fell, despite my usually stern nature. "I can't take this much more... Why does this happen to me...? I just wanted to live a normal life..." I barely held myself together enough to even think. Homesickness did not even begin to be an understatement of what I felt. I went into a quiet corner, curled up into a ball like I did when I was a child, and slept there, not knowing where I belonged anymore.


	15. First Day In Gensokyo

I woke up in my corner, not even sure that I wanted to. I stood up and noticed my headache. I could not force aside the thoughts of my family, and all I had left behind. I did start to feel better when I saw Patchouli. She was probably just about to wake me up, but I was already awake. I was still very drowsy. She waved me over again, and I followed her outside. She must have set up some targets during the night. They were just wooden boards nailed together that stood out of the ground.

"See if you can shoot that target over there." She pointed to one of the targets.

"How exactly do I do that?" I asked, still not sure how to use my powers in their fullest.

"The same way I told you to levitate"

"Alright then... Let me try it out."

"All of your powers work like that, just think to do things, let it come naturally." As she finished her instructions, I fired a large beam that plowed through the target and into the hill behind it, leaving a considerable crater. Patchouli stared at me. "That was more powerful than I had expected... Now try to shoot some energy bullets at that crater." I did as instructed. "I was right... It's incredible how powerful you are already... You just got here yesterday. You really are powerful."

"Thanks. Anything else I should try out?"

"You seem like you could handle a minor attack."

"What?" Then she fired a stream of magic bullets. I immediately created a magic shield to block them.

"How about a little more warning next time you want me to block something? Luckily I have good reflexes."

"Now try to absorb this hit."

"Wait, what?!"

"Get ready!" Then a magic bullet sped right into my stomach, knocking me back a few steps.

"Sheesh! Slow down! Give me a break! Let's try not to burst my liver!"

"Okay, but not for too long, how about ten seconds? Starting now."

"Okay, okay..." I took a bit to prepare myself for what was about to happen, and I didn't even know what that was. The ten seconds elapsed.

"Okay, try to dodge this one."

"Is flying allowed?"

"Hmm... How about you try without flying at first, and see how that works."

"Right then." Despite the training being somewhat harsh, I still was actually enjoying it. It was taking my mind off of my family. I saw her charge an attack, and I knew it was one where dodging was the best option, because I could almost feel the energy emanating from it. Then I was surprised when magic bullets careened off in all directions, leaving gaps in between. I ran to the side so that the bullets would go around me, and I was fine. Then she repeated the attack. I used some of my newfound powers to boost my running speed, and even then, one of the bullets came dangerously close to making contact. "Maybe I shouldn't be wearing my good jacket for this!" She halted her attack, and looked over me again.

"That's right. That's the outfit you wore the first day of school. It has sentimental value to you?"

"Yeah, I got this jacket as a Christmas present from my aunt."

"Christmas?"

"It's a holiday people from the outside world celebrate."

"Oh... Come with me, I shall find you some more suitable clothing for training."

"Alright..." She started to walk towards the shore of the island.

"Follow me. The village where we can buy you clothes is across the lake."

"Perfect." She took flight, and I did the same. It was a few minutes of flying to get to the other shore, then several minutes more until we could see the village. We landed, and Patchouli led me into a shop. She went to the counter, and spoke to the clerk. I sat by the window, and she came back in a few moments. She held a pale shirt, and a pair of brown pants, and some pale underpants, as well as a long rolled up strip of fabric. She also handed me several bags with multiple outfits worth of the same garments.

"Alright, we should head back now."

"Okay." I followed her back to the mansion. When we arrived, one question came to mind. "So, are you the only one who lives here?"

"No, I'm simply the librarian."

"Oh. I was just wondering. It would be an awfully large mansion for just one person to live in."

"It would, wouldn't it. Perhaps you should get changed, I still need to train you on a few basics."

"Will do." She led me inside to a changing room. She handed all of the clothes over, and I held up the cloth strip. "What's this for?"

"It's a sarashi. Wrap it around your torso, it'll help you avoid injuries."

"I see..." She left, and I removed my sweatshirt, shirt, and undershirt. Suddenly the door opened. A silver-haired maid walked in.

"Patchouli, is he awake yet?" She stopped asking her question when she noticed me. She immediately left with a reddened face. I put on the sarashi, starting at the bottom of my waist, all the way up to the middle of my ribs. I then switched out my clothing for my lower half, and I headed on outside. I went back to the spot where we were training. Then she continued.

"Now try to dodge these attacks. You can fly this time." With that, I levitated off of the ground, ready to try to dodge whatever she was planning to throw at me. Then she repeated what she did before. With the addition of a third dimension to dodge in, rather than just being on the ground, it was much easier, but I still needed to pay careful attention, elsewise I would have been shot down. Eventually, the attacks ceased. I landed near her once again. "Great!" She complimented my dodging. "Dodging is handy in a duel for obvious reasons, and luckily you're good at it."

"So is that pretty much it for defense?"

"In terms of basics, yes."

"Good to hear, what now?"

"Try to hit a moving target. Let me think..." Then she conjured a crystal and had it flying in the air. "Try to hit it, and you can also do area attacks like the ones you just dodged. The main drawback is lack of aiming, you used a focused attack earlier. Your choice on the matter." I used another focused attack and the crystal had moved. Another attempt, and I had managed to destroy the crystal. "Good, now try an area attack, just project bullets in all directions." I tried it, and it took a few more tries than the focused attacks did. Eventually I landed a hit. "Well, I guess we should take a break for now."

"Okay." We went back into the mansion, and then she sat at a table.

"Have a seat." She had pulled a chair out for me. We sat across from each other at the tea table. Then the maid that had previously blundered upon my merely half-clothed self entered the room.

"So what beverages would the two of you like?"

"Coffee for me"

"And you?"

"Um... I'll have some tea if that's alright, Ms..."

"Oh, my name is Sakuya Izayoi. Okay, I'll be back in a moment. Oh, and... I'm sorry about earlier..."

"No worries, I know you didn't mean to."

"Didn't mean to what?" Patchouli asked.

"Eh, nothing." I replied. Then, the one named Sakuya left the room. Patchouli smiled at me again.

"I was right after all. To think Reimu Hakurei didn't believe you had any potential."

"Reimu Hakurei? Is that the one girl who called me a hairball?"

"Yes. She's a shrine maiden. She does her job quite well. Sometimes though, she can be set off even by minor things. Don't get on her bad side..."

"I wouldn't dream of it, not with the temper she showed toward me yesterday."

"I don't understand why she was so upset. In time though, I'm sure she'll learn to accept you."

"I'm back." Sakuya returned. She placed the beverages on the table, and I noticed something that set off an alarm. The tea was blood red.

"I should have warned you..." Patchouli apologized.

"What's wrong?" Sakuya asked, I still wasn't speaking.

"The owner of this mansion is a vampire."

"Oh, it didn't even occur to me that you were human... Shall I get you some coffee instead?"

"Yeah... I suppose." I accepted the offer.

"Sorry about that..."

"No worries." I was a rather understanding person, not typically getting angry when someone ever made a mistake. She left once more. Then I thought of something. "So... Is there any way to earn money here? I may need more supplies that I could get from the village, such as a shaving razor."

"That's a good question. I'm not sure exactly where you could work."

"Perhaps I should go back to the village? Maybe there's some openings of sorts there."

"That would be a good idea."

"Shall I go now?"

"I don't see why not."

"Well, I should wait for Ms. Izayoi to return."

"I'm here." She handed me the coffee. "Thank you for your patience."

"You're welcome, and thank you." I quickly finished the coffee, and then I shook her hand to officially have met her. She seemed a bit confused, but then I left for the village. After the flight, I landed. I walked around, seeing if there were any obvious posters showing openings. Then I saw one nearby, but it was in pretty bad shape, and I assumed nobody had applied for the position. It mentioned that I would apply at a place called Eientei. The position was to be a clerk at the clinic in the area. I was hoping to become a doctor or veterinarian in my life back at home, but a clerk would have to do for now. With that, I returned to the mansion. I once more spoke with Patchouli.

"Uh, Patchouli? Do you happen to have a map or anything I could use?"

"Oh, I meant to give this to you, but I forgot while we were training." She explained as she pulled a map out of her pocket and handed it to me.

"Thanks. I think I already may have found some work. I hope, because I don't want to be a freeloader or anything." I once more left for the village. The time was a bit after noon by what I could tell, so I looked straight up, and pointed towards the Sun to figure out which way I was facing. I found out the direction, and flew towards the location that the poster directed me to. I landed, and there was a large building surrounded by a bamboo forest. I landed, and walked in the door. After looking around the area, I found the clinic. I entered, and saw two people were already inside. One was a woman with long black hair, and another with long silver hair. The one with black hair was wearing a pink shirt with long wide sleeves, as well as a long red dress skirt, while the other wore a red and blue dress, and it was split in four sections by the coloring differences, and she wore a cap with a red cross on it. I pulled the poster for the job application out of my pocket. "Hello, I saw this poster, and I was wondering if the position is still available." I hoped that it still was, or else I would be making a complete fool of myself, and still be out of a job.

"Well, I guess the poster worked after all. I didn't expect anyone would actually find us, however." The black-haired woman spoke.

"It seems that way. You're in luck, the position is still open as a matter of fact. Your name is?" The silver-haired woman inquired.

"Jacob Kenneth."

"Hello, Mr. Kenneth. I'm Eirin Yagokoro, and this is Kaguya Houraisan."

"Hello Ms. Yagokoro, Ms. Houraisan. So, about the position, are there any prerequisites?"

"No, just try not to scare off any patients." Eirin explained with a chuckle. "So, you are aware that you may need to be an acting nurse in case there are too many patients for me to monitor alone?"

"Yes I am."

"Seeing as you noticed that, it is safe to assume you know of the rest of the conditions of the occupation?"

"I do like to make sure I know what I'm doing, so yes, I have read the poster in fullest detail."

"Good. Can you start tomorrow?"

"Certainly."

"Alright, see you then."

"I will see you then as well. I look forward to working with you Ms. Yagokoro." That statement was not a lie. Eirin was very polite, and I knew she would be easy to work with. I felt accomplished. I had a job with a decent salary, had pleasant co-workers, and also had a shift that would more than likely work with my schedule. I headed back to the mansion, and found Patchouli. She was in the impressively large library of the mansion. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she liked reading.

"Hey, Patchouli. I got a job at the clinic in Eientei. I'm starting there tomorrow."

"Good to hear. I much prefer that you work someplace where you're not endangering your own health."

"I'm glad to hear that you put value in my safety."

"Of course, I know you put value in mine, as you've helped me in many situations in the outside world."

"Maybe, but still, thanks."

"You are welcome."

"Oh, and another thing."

"Yes?"

"Am I supposed to stay here at night?"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention where you'll be sleeping. Originally, more maids were expected than currently are employed, so there are some vacancies in the maids' quarters. That's where you'll sleep."

"It is getting a bit late. Where is that exactly, may I ask?"

"Follow me, I'll give you a tour of the mansion." Then I followed her as she showed me each room, and once again explained who owned the mansion. It was odd living in a house owned by someone I still hadn't even met yet. I guess it would be like a friend staying over at your house when your parents and the friend have not yet met either.

"By the way, when should I meet the owner of the mansion? I imagine it's only polite to at least speak with her."

"There's no need for that, she knows of your presence, and she's not bothered."

"Oh... Okay then..."

"It is starting to get late. Perhaps getting to sleep now would be a good idea."

"Is there a way I can ensure I wake up on time?"

"One more benefit of having magic is the ability to focus one's mind and body in a way unlike one without said ability. Just a few examples are being able to control your heart rate to some extent, being able to use energy to boost your reflexes, and even controlling what time you wake up. Just use your powers like you would before, and you'll wake up just when you want."

"Pretty neat."

"I have to agree myself."

"Anyway, I'll be off to sleep now, good night Patchouli."

"Good night Jacob." I went into the maids' quarters, my temporary residence, and noticed the room was empty. The Sun was just beginning to set. I decided I could use more sleep to get my thoughts straight, and went off to sleep.


	16. Short-Notice Conflict

I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up when I wanted, about six in the morning. I got out of bed, and stretched my arms. I saw Sakuya asleep in a bed nearby. I heard her snoring quietly. I walked over, standing over her. She seemed to be smiling slightly.

"Well, you're cute..." I randomly mumbled. It was true. I then headed off to Eientei. When I arrived Eirin was there waiting.

"Good morning Mr. Kenneth."

"Good morning Ms. Yagokoro. Have any patients been through?"

"None at the moment. Not many people are awake at this time of day. I must say, I was almost worried that you wouldn't be here on time."

"Well, to work here, I need be a responsible person."

"It's good that you know that. It worried us that someone might come in and not have any idea what they were doing."

"I don't like to disappoint, that I can assure you."

"Brilliant to hear. Shall you now occupy the front desk in my stead?"

"Of course." I then went into a hallway, and into the door leading to the room where Eirin was and took the spot behind the desk. I waited for any patients to come through, but for a length of time the clinic was silent. I sat patiently and stared at the door, anticipating someone to come through at any moment. I yawned, still having no visitors. Eventually, after some length of time, Eirin came into my office. "It's about time for the next shift, you might want to head home now."

"What? Already?"

"Yes. I'll have my apprentice come up and take the night shift. There's not much traffic today."

"Well then... I guess I lost track of time."

"You've been here about ten hours."

"Well... I guess I'll be going now..." I stood up, and Eirin handed me my paycheck, which revealed even further exactly what era Gensokyo seemed to be in, as it were old-fashioned Japanese coins that had holes in the middles. I walked back outside. I drew a breath of fresh air, and took flight. I went back into the mansion, still having not met the owner, I still had a feeling of urgency to do so. I walked into the maids' quarters, and I still felt a bit out-of-place. Something felt wrong, I knew it. It was that type of feeling in your stomach where you know you forgot something, but don't know what it was. Now, however, it was much worse. I looked at Sakuya's bed, which was empty, that didn't seem too unusual. What was unusual was that it was in a different place than it was that morning. Then I noticed something that I found alarming. A knife embedded in the wall. I had to bend my arm awkwardly to reach behind the bed, which was blocking me from getting it. Then I almost cut myself. There were more knives than just one. I pushed the bed aside, as it was in the wrong spot anyway, and telling by the knives, I doubted that simple furniture rearrangement was the cause. I noticed several other beds were similarly in unusual spots. I saw scorch marks from bullets as well. A fight had gone on, and someone had tried to hide it. I sprinted out of the room, and looked about for anyone, terrified that I may have lost my only friends. I found Patchouli on the floor below. "Patchouli! Where's Sakuya?! Something happened while I was gone!"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her today." I felt my stomach knot up.

"No..." I muttered. I immediately sprinted back. The window was open, and I could tell that whatever had caused the mess went out that way, and so did I. In my haste, I knocked the window out of its frame, but I was too busy doing the right thing to care. I could have imagined that Patchouli was not exactly too happy with me damaging a window, but I had bigger things to worry about. I made it across the lake, and into a forest. Then, as my intuition kicked in, I could feel I was getting a bit closer. Suddenly a bullet sped by within inches of me. I came to an abrupt halt, and got ready to blast in all directions. Then I looked rapidly about, not seeing any targets in the forest. Then something suddenly emerged that I guessed to be a fairy. It shot at me, and I instinctively knocked it out of the air. I continued on, then I was ambushed with waves of bullets. I wove between the gaps in the bullets, and returned fire to the best of my ability while dodging. I kept going, then someone flew out right in front of me. I guessed it was another fairy.

"So, you're after that maid huh? Why do you even care if we take her?" She frustratedly demanded an answer. She had confirmed my theory that they had kidnapped Sakuya. I knew Sakuya must have been alive, but I knew I had to hurry to get to her.

"She's my friend! I will not let you take her away!" Then, the battle commenced. Both of us opened fire. I took my first barrage of focused fire. I knew I was going to have bruises. I continued to fight, but then more bullets came at me. One of which came from below the treeline beneath me. I barely managed to dodge it by leaning back, and it grazed my forehead. In that moment I flinched, the unseen enemies bombarded me with focused attacks. It wouldn't take a doctor to realize that I was in bad shape. Blood was soaking my shirt due to the heavy hits breaking through my skin. I realized why nothing else was bleeding from my attacks. It seemed that intent was a factor of attacks, like power and effort. I had no intent to kill anyone, but my adversaries obviously wanted me to die. Fortunately for me, I did not die, and knocked her out, as well as the other fairies, after several heavy barrages from both sides. I continued on through the dark of the night, I pressed on, going through to where there was intense resistance, telling me I was close. Then, I saw a cave that fairies were coming out of. An exchange of shots left me as the victor, and I entered the cave otherwise onobstructed. Then I found her. Sakuya was alive, but seemed to be incapacitated. She was lying on her side, her eyes were closed, and I saw tears running down her face. I approached, ready to bring her back, then suddenly, I was shot repeatedly from behind. Stumbling, I spun around and fired back, luckily hitting the targets, as I fell over. I got back to my feet, and lifted Sakuya up. She laid across my arms almost as if she were a baby. She coughed, then reached a hand up and grabbed my shoulder. She didn't say anything, she was too weak.

"Stop!" Another fairy yelled. I jumped several feet into the air, and fired a bullet with one hand, and then put it back into position to carry Sakuya.

"That's it, We can't stick around like this. Get ready for some flying!" I warned Sakuya. I sprinted towards the mouth of the cave, and took flight at speeds which I hadn't reached before. Enemies were still present, but I carried on, unwavering as barrage after barrage came at me. I fortunately had speed to my advantage, and wasn't shot down. I landed at the mansion and I entered, still cradling Sakuya in my arms. She started to speak.

"Thank you..."

"Sh... You're welcome Sakuya, but try not to talk. You need to rest." I carried her to the room where the two of us slept, and lay her on the bed. I went to the bathroom, and I realized the severity my wounds when I took off my shirt and sarashi to try to bandage them. I was covered in gashes and burn wounds. I was losing blood in dangerous amounts, and wouldn't last too long if I didn't stop the bleeding. Patchouli walked in, as I had left the door open at the time, and she saw how bloody I was.

"Jacob! What happened to you?!"

"Got attacked by a gang of... I don't know, fairies? They took Sakuya, but I brought her back... I don't know if I'm going to make it..."

"We need to get you to a doctor!"

"I wouldn't argue, but I don't even know if I'll be able to make it in time."

"Nonsense! We have to move you now!" She grabbed my arm, and I only managed to grab my shirt as she pulled me out the door, and eventually into the cold night air. I had to lead on from there to get to Eientei, and to Eirin's clinic. Eirin had said she was going to have someone else take over that day. I still had a chance to survive if I made it there before I bled to death. Every second seemed longer than the one before, until I finally stumbled in, and was about to be admitted. There in the waiting room, I lost consciousness.


	17. Getting Adjusted

I woke up in the clinic. I had terrible aches everywhere. I quietly groaned from the pain, and sat up. Eirin entered the room.

"I just hired you yesterday. Imagine how shocked I was when just moments after you left, you stumbled in as a bloody mess." Eirin spoke with a bit of worry showing in her voice.

"Yeah... Sorry about that..." I replied, hanging my head.

"Don't be. I know what you did, and I think you did the right thing."

"Oh, thanks."

"You may want to rest a bit longer, but your wounds already have healed."

"Is he still here?" Reimu Hakurei entered the room. "Oh."

"Hello." I greeted her. Her attitude from a few days ago had given me all the reasons I needed to be bitter, but I wasn't that type of person.

"I heard about what happened..."

"You did now?"

"Yes, I did. I just wanted to come here to... To say, I... I'm sorry how I treated you a few days ago..."

"It's okay, everyone has their bad days."

"Yeah... I suppose... Well, see you later then..."

"Okay, see you later..." She left, and I lay back. Then after some time of resting, Sakuya returned. She walked in and stood next to me, as I sat up despite my continued aching.

"Jacob... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. How are you?"

"Well, still alive, thanks to you. I'm sorry you had to go through that..."

"Sakuya, don't be sorry. I'm not just going to abandon my friends. I would have done it regardless of how it turned out for me personally."

"It was very brave of you to risk your life for someone you don't even know too well..." She sat on the bed next to me. "You only had a day of training, but you did it. They ambushed me once I woke up, and even I couldn't fight them off, maybe because I was tired, but you've just had a single day of knowing how to fight, and with that you risked everything for me..."

"Sakuya, I'd do it again too."

"I wouldn't doubt it, because you're a good person like that."

"I'd hope so."

"Here." She placed one of my shirts and a pair of my pants on the bed. "Patchouli wanted me to deliver these."

"Oh, thanks."

"You're welcome. I should return now, mistress may not be happy if I'm not present. She and her sister have just returned this morning from their visit to Hakugyokurou."

"I see... I should be able to get up soon."

"Oh, and you can have today off." Eirin announced.

"Thanks, Ms. Yagokoro."

"No worries." Then Sakuya left, and I took a brief nap. Shortly after, I woke up yet again, and walked outside. I eventually came across a familiar face, and not one from Gensokyo either. It was the same person I met the first day at school, Jakob Wolfgang. I walked over, surprised that I wasn't the only one who was imported from the outside. He was working at a stand that sold some sort of food item. I didn't take long to identify it as meat, and therefore take adverse note of it.

"Well... Long time, no see?" A familiar voice spoke up. It was Jakob.

"Huh, oh, you're here too?"

"Yeah, when did you get here exactly?"

"Only two days ago, pretty much. I take it you've been here, not at school for those last couple of days."

"Yeah. It's been pretty rough going so far... How have you been through here?"

"Eh, decent."

"Have to train at all?"

"Oh, yeah, a bit. Why do you ask?"

"Had to do a bit of that myself... Paid off, I'm still alive thanks to it."

"Huh?"

"Oh... Nevermind..."

"You sure? It sounded like it was pretty interesting."

"Well... It'd be a challenge for me to explain."

"Why is that?"

"Well... I just came from the clinic, nearly exsanguinated."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah..."

"No wonder you look so pale..."

"That's me, getting myself into bad situations, you know..."

"Yeah, after that whole apple thing, I could tell that you were that sort of person."

"Yep, pretty much." Then someone else came up next to him. She had long silver hair, red eyes, and red overalls that were decorated with some sort of papers that looked almost like stickers. She also wore a light colored shirt.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked.

"Oh, this is Jacob, we went to school together back in the outside world."

"I thought you were Jakob."

"I am. His last name is Kenneth."

"Okay... So there's two of you?"

"Well, his name is spelled J-a-c-o-b, mine is spelled J-a-k-o-b."

"Oh... Okay then..." She walked back to whoever she was previously talking to.

"Who's that?" I asked, practically repeating her question about me.

"Oh, her name's Mokou Fujiwara. She owns this stand. I just work here."

"I see. I think I should probably head out now though."

"Alright, see you next time."

"Same to you, my friend." I then went back to the mansion. I was in a bit of a hurry, as now I finally had the chance to meet the owner of the mansion. I walked in, and went into the library to see Patchouli like normal. She wasn't in the library, but I didn't worry, because I heard her voice taking part in the conversation in the other room. I walked into the room, and silence fell. Then someone stood up. She seemed to be much younger than me, but I remembered that Patchouli said the owner was a vampire. She had light blue hair, red eyes, and a pair of almost bat-like wings, but more almost on the devilish side. She was quite short relative to me. She walked right up to me, and I was starting to wonder what she was going to say.

"Jacob I presume? Sakuya told me about you, as has Patchouli. I heard of what happened yesterday. Thank you for helping keep the mansion and its staff safe while I was gone." She extended her hand, and I shook it. "I am Remilia Scarlet, and over there next to my seat is my sister, Flandre." I saw her sister, who was staring at me in slight confusion.

"It's an honor to be of assistance, Ms. Scarlet."

"My. Quite the gentleman you are."

"Thank you, Ms. Scarlet."

"Of course. Shall you have a seat?" She politely offered as she pulled a chair out slightly from under the table.

"Thank you." I then pulled it the rest of the way, and sat down at the table. Then Remilia went back to her seat and continued her announcement.

"As I said, Ms. Saigyouji and Ms. Yakumo both are at a loss for words of what this enemy is. All we have received are threats. There have been no true encounters, but the omens have been quite clear, and we need to prepare. That's why Mr. Kenneth is here. Patchouli brought him here due to her theory that he potentially had magical powers. This became evident in the latest incident where Sakuya's life was threatened. He may need to be trained further, but he has proven that he could become very powerful, even enough to help combat the growing evil that looms over Gensokyo. Now that you all know exactly who he is, are there any questions?" A brief silence fell. "Very well then. You're all dismissed." With that, I went into the maids' quarters yet again, and went off to sleep.


	18. Planning Ahead

I got up early again to head out for work. I arrived on time, hoping to make a usual routine out of it. I went back to my desk, and sat to wait for any patients. I stared at the door, and finally someone arrived. A girl with short blonde hair, and a blue dress, and matching blue eyes.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"I need to speak with Ms. Yagokoro, on matters of my prescription."

"I see. Your name?"

"Alice Margatroid."

"Alright. One moment." I rang the bell on my desk, and another rang in the back room in response. "Okay, go on through. Ms. Yagokoro will see you now."

"Thank you." Then she went into the back room. After a bit of a conversation that I couldn't hear, she then left the clinic. I waited more, and a few more people came through throughout the day. Eirin came in to alert me of the shift change, gave me my day's salary, and then I went back outside. I thought of Reimu. She had visited me the day before, and I felt like I needed to talk to her about a few things. I looked at my map, and took flight in the direction of the Hakurei Shrine. I landed, and looked about. I didn't see her, and was about to leave. I walked a bit closer to the shrine, and it still seemed empty. I noticed the donation box, and deposited a few coins.

"Oh. Hello Jacob."

"Hey." I turned around to address her. "There's something I've heard a lot about recently, so I thought I should come talk to you. It's about some sort of enemy that threatens this world. Everyone I hear from about it keeps saying how I'm supposed to be the one to stop it. I was wondering if you could tell me exactly what it is I'm up against."

"I've heard a lot about it too. I actually don't know what it is either... That's why I was so stressed when you first got here. Sorry about that again."

"No worries. I've been called much worse."

"Oh..."

"Well... Any ideas who else I should ask about the matter?"

"I don't know, everyone's baffled about it..."

"Well... Do you know when I have to be ready?"

"Actually, I remember one of the more recent threats. It said the end of Gensokyo was going to come somewhere around this time next year..."

"Where did you learn this?"

"You probably don't know of Utsuho Reiuji do you?"

"Actually, I have never heard that name before."

"She's a raven that's staying in Former Hell. She's supposed to maintain the nuclear furnace there. Originally it was supposed to be turned into an energy source for Gensokyo, but... Utsuho didn't exactly understand what she was supposed to do with her powers. I had to stop her from destroying Gensokyo... Really, I don't think she meant any harm, but was just mistaken. Recently... She... How to put this... She doesn't want to be there any more... I must admit that I feel guilty for not helping her..."

"So, might she know about this whole thing?"

"I suppose it's worth talking to her."

"So how would I go about finding her?"

"If you come back here in a few days, I can lead you to the entrance of the underground passage, but that's as far as I can go. It's a pretty straightforward route to her. I should warn you that Satori Komeiji may not be pleased if you bring her out to the surface."

"You said she wants out. If she's in misery, why should I not rescue her?"

"Satori is actually her owner. Utsuho is one of her pets."

"If she wishes to leave, but her so-called owner won't let her, then how is she being treated any better than a slave?"

"I really was mistaken. You truly do have only the best intentions, don't you?"

"I have no use of bad intentions. If I had bad intentions, then I'd be a bad person, wouldn't I?"

"When you put it that way... You really put a lot of thought into things, don't you?"

"My friends in the outside world tell me I over think things. I'm glad you recognize that I'm not a careless person."

"I'd be lying if I said you were one."

"Thanks. Anyway, I should probably head back home."

"Okay, see you next time."

I left, and I went to the mansion, and went to sleep to get up early the next morning.


	19. Gaining Allies

I headed back to the clinic at Eientei, ready to get back to work. It wasn't exactly exciting work, but at least I was doing something to keep from becoming idle. I walked in, and Eirin came out of the back room.

"Good morning Mr. Kenneth." She welcomed me.

"A good morning to you as well, Ms. Yagokoro."

"Patchouli Knowledge is a friend of yours, yes?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, she brought me into Gensokyo."

"Wait, you're from the outside world?"

"Indeed I am."

"I see... I've wanted to visit the outside world for a long time now... Anyway, Ms. Knowledge informed me that you need to train, and requested that I adjust your shift. In order to give you that time, your shift will start at noon, beginning tomorrow."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Oh, and you can have the day off on Friday. It is currently Thursday, Reimu Hakurei told me about your planned visit to meet with Utsuho Reiuji. Here, take this." She handed over two bottles of medicine, one green, and the other red. "To take those, simply drink them. I made sure they're not unpleasantly flavored. The green one is to give you immunity to radiation. The red one is to heal any injuries you may sustain. It is quite powerful, and can heal most flesh wounds." She then handed me a small medicine bag that was to be worn with a shoulder strap. "Here, this should help you carry them."

"Thank you. This will help greatly on the journey. Hopefully I won't need the healing draught..."

"I hope the same. Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"Not that I can think of at the moment. Oh wait, how long does this radiation guard last?"

"Oh, that. I might have overdone it, but it should last for days. At least two. I guess more is better, right?"

"I don't see why not, really."

"Okay, good. I thought you'd be worried about any side effects."

"What do I have to worry about? I trust you."

"Thanks."

"But of course. Shall I begin my shift now?"

"If there is nothing else to discuss, then let our work begin."

"Let's get the day started then." With that, the two of us went to our posts, and the day's work began. I was surprised how active the clinic was. I was signing in many patients, and there wasn't much wait time from one to the next. I was beginning to understand why the clinic needed another helping hand. Despite the activity, I still was not too overworked. All I did was sign in each waiting patient, and send them in when given the clear. Then, Jakob Wolfgang walked into the clinic.

"Oh... Hey Jacob..."

"Hey there Jakob. Let me sign you in. What brings you here?"

"I've been training recently... Mokou does know how to fight pretty well... I don't know where she learned how."

"Ah. I understand. At least you didn't turn out like me after I first put my training to use. I was not in good shape..."

"Oh. That didn't sound good."

"Yeah, not really." He then sat down in one of the waiting room seats. After some time, I sent him through. With a few more admitted patients after him, Eirin called me into the back room to tend to me of the patients. She instructed me to tend to Jakob. I did, and mentioned something to him.

"So... I'm going to be going somewhere tomorrow. You want to come along? It should be really good training. Plus, if you've heard anything about whatever is threatening Gensokyo, it might get us a bit closer to stopping it."

"I've heard of that. How is this trip going to stop it?"

"I'm headed out to meet someone who originally found out about the threats. Her name is Utsuho Reiuji. Really, it's almost like a rescue mission."

"Huh... Well. You say this is tomorrow?"

"Indeed it is."

"I guess I'll come along. Should we meet up here at the clinic?"

"I suppose. We do both know where it is. Reimu Hakurei will lead us to where we enter the path to Former Hell, that's where our journey begins."

"Ah. I see. So what time should we meet?"

"I guess about eight in the morning if that's okay."

"That sounds about good." He was then released, and I worked the rest of my shift before going back to the mansion, and to bed even earlier.


	20. A Step Forward

I woke up, headed downstairs, and looked outside. It was dark, and undoubtedly cold. Then I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to see Reimu.

"Oh. Hey, Reimu."

"Hey Jacob. Are you about ready to go?"

"Oh, hang on, I need to get a few things." I hurried upstairs, still quiet, not wanting to awaken everyone in the mansion. I took the two bottles of medicine, put them in the small medicine bag Eirin gave me along with them, then I slung it over my shoulder. I headed back to the door silently. "Now I'm ready."

"Okay, good."

"Oh, and within the next thirty minutes, we need to visit my workplace in Eientei."

"How come?"

"A friend of mine wishes to help me in this venture."

"I understand. We should head out now."

"I agree." The two of us then flew off to the clinic. I took the lead as we approached the bamboo forest that surrounded Eientei, as I had become well able to find Eientei from flying overhead. I spotted said establishment, and the two of us landed next to the main entrance. Reimu and I sat there, waiting for Jakob to arrive. Reimu initiated another conversation.

"I must say Jacob, you're a strong person."

"Hm?"

"I mean, about how rude I was. Anyone else probably would have just held that against me. You just let it go."

"Uh. Let's not dwell on that too much. I don't want that to be the only thing you remember me for."

"Well... I haven't really much spoken about you rescuing Sakuya."

"As much as that may have done, what I'm going to do today will likely top it. I will literally be rescuing someone from Hell... She doesn't deserve it, correct?"

"Deserve what?"

"To be there."

"She hasn't done any evil, no."

"Perfect, then I know what I have to do. I'm not going to let an innocent person suffer in such a way."

"That's very noble of you to want to risk your life for someone's comfort."

"It's not necessarily her comfort that I'm doing this for. It's the principle. I won't stand contentedly as the innocent are punished. Who would I be to call myself innocent, were I to stand by and let such an atrocity go uninhibited?"

"Well... Back when I first met you at the shrine, I had no idea you were this kind of person. I don't know if selfless even is enough to describe you."

"Either way, I like having that word attributed to me."

"Did I miss something?" Jakob had arrived.

"No. Now that you're here, we should move out." I answered.

"Alright. Let's do it."

"Reimu, lead on."

"Alright then." She responded. She then took flight. Jakob and I took off and kept up with her. After some fling through a hilly region, we met rocky terrain. Then we saw the entrance. It was terribly ominous, but we had no choice to go in and rescue Utsuho.

"Oh, Jacob. There is one thing I should mention."

"Yes, Reimu?"

"About the nuclear furnace down there. All I know is that I don't trust it. I've seen it before, and I'm afraid that with Utsuho gone, it may get out of control. If you bring Utsuho to the surface, then please make sure you somehow disable the furnace."

"I understand. I'll make sure I do that. Anyway, see you Reimu."

"Good luck you two. I'll be waiting here for you to get back."

"Reimu..."

"Yes?"

"You know Yukari, right?"

"Yes, why?"

"If... If something happens to me, and I don't make it back, please have her notify my family." Then Jakob and I continued on. It was nearly pitch black in the cave, as the morning Sun was barely starting to appear over the horizon. I then started to generate a bright aura, practically turning myself into a lantern. From there we went in. Once again, some fairies attacked. Since I saw them beforehand, I was able to predict where the bullets were coming from. Luckily, Jakob's own training seemed to be paying off, as he was able to hold his own. We fired back, emerging victorious from the minor skirmish. Neither of us were hit, and we carried on, leaving at least a dozen stunned fairies in our wake.

"Well, at least I feel like I'm not going to get shot to death by a fairy this time." I cheerfully stated as we continued, finding another group of fairies. The two of us combined were able to fight through with no trouble. After the second encounter with the fairies, we found a bridge. The area nearby was lit, so I was able to dim my aura. Another girl sat at the opposite end of it. She wasn't directly opposing us, so we saw it fit to cross over. Just as we reached it, she spoke.

"You should not go further."

"What?" I replied, confused by her sudden protests.

"Don't go any further."

"I don't have a choice. I must go through. I need to speak with Utsuho Reiuji."

"Then I'll have to stop you. You are not permitted to go further."

"I'm sorry, but I refuse. Too much is at stake! Try to stop me if you must, but I won't give up here!" Then she attacked. She fired bullets in all directions in waves of area attacks. We were able to dodge, and then we fired back. Seconds later, her attack took a terrifying new approach. The bullets shot in a straight path, trying to materialize over us. I hastily tried to prepare myself to counter the spell and possibly neutralize the threat. I was interrupted as I was suddenly shoved of the way. I saw Jakob fall, and could see that some bullets had burst out from him, and sprayed blood in the process. The attack stopped. I was struck by terror and intense fury simultaneously. I imagined the girl would have had a sadistic smirk, but instead, I saw true remorse in her expression. Seeing her regret dissipated my rage. I flew down to Jakob to support him, as he had landed on the cave floor. He was bleeding heavily. Then the girl came to him, and tried to wake him up.

"I... I never actually meant to hurt anyone..." She quietly spoke. I remembered the healing medicine I had, and hurriedly retrieved it. I administered the medicine for him, hoping he was still alive. Over time, his wounds began to heal over, and he started breathing again. He eventually was conscious once more.

"Hey... Jakob... You okay buddy?" I was having a difficult time maintaining my composure. A few tears already streaked down my face.

"Yeah... I'm alright..." He responded, much to my relief. I helped him up to his feet.

"I'm sorry... I just wanted you to leave... You can pass... I didn't mean to hurt you..." The girl conceded.

"Well... Ma'am, should I be expecting to get shot if I go on much further?"

"My name is Parsee, but yes... If you pass, others will still try to stop you."

"Jakob. Get back to the surface." I remembered the medicine I had to keep me from being poisoned, and I only had one bottle of it.

"No... I can go on." He persisted.

"No, you can't... You can't follow me any further. There's high radiation ahead, and there's only one bottle of this medicine that will keep me from getting poisoned. Even then, it's going to be a lot harder fighting through. You're in no condition to fight."

"Radiation? What?"

"It's not safe any further ahead. I have to do this without you. Don't worry, I'll be fine." I assured him, not sure exactly what was going to happen further on. Then the girl helped to support him as he turned to leave. I continued on past the bridge. "Don't worry..." I muttered, half to him, and half to myself. I flew onward, encountering more and more resistance as time went. The lighting was still moderately dark, so much that I needed to generate an aura again. I continued to generate an aura until I saw a faint glow in the distance coming from a large palace. I carefully entered, fully expecting to get ambushed by a ridiculous amount of fairies. Fortunately, I was able to enter without immediately being shot at.

"Get out..." A voice spoke from the darkness.

"Who are you?"

"I know why you're here... Leave..." The speaker walked out in front of me. She was rather short, and a third eye was attached to her by what almost appeared to be veins, but they weren't because they differed in color. She had purple hair, and wore a blue shirt with a pink skirt. She looked rather innocent, and I hoped I didn't have to fight her.

"If that is so true, then why exactly am I here? I mean no harm to you."

"You're trying to take Utsuho away."

"If she doesn't wish to be here, then she has the right to leave."

"She'll get past this, she just doesn't understand."

"Understand what?"

"The fact that she can't leave."

"Why can't she? What obligations does she have to be in this place?"

"What obligation do you have to take her from here?"

"The obligation of putting value on her rights. Need I have more?" Without warning, she sent bullets forth. I blindly sent a forceful wave of energy forth, launching her into the wall. She started to try to climb back up. I got ready to continue the attack.

"Wait... Wait... Stop..."

"Look, I'm getting tired of fighting, and I don't want to hurt you... I just don't want Utsuho to suffer..."

"I... I understand..."

"Do you not want to be here either?"

"Not really, why?"

"If you want to leave, I will not stop you. I'm sorry about that. That was a bit much." I helped her up.

"It's okay, but Reimu isn't the problem. There are evil spirits that might revolt if I left, though they're mostly gone now. On the surface, people hate me because I can read minds... I'm here so that I won't be persecuted..."

"Maybe ask Reimu, she seems nice, maybe she'll help. If she asks, tell her I sent you. If she doesn't believe you, then just wait for my return, and I'll explain to her myself."

"Thank you... So, the furnace won't need maintenance?"

"Not once I'm done with it. I'm going to be shutting it off somehow. That's why Utsuho will be able to leave. I'll be heading on now."

"Farewell... I'll retrieve my sister." She went into another part of the palace. I continued on to find Utsuho. I knew that I was getting close. I pressed on, and noticed a bright glow from a cave that went downward.

"Well... Here it is... Hell..." I opened the medicine bag, drew out the green bottle, and drank its contents. I flew in, and looked around. Flames burned everywhere. It didn't take me long to start sweating. "I can't stick around in this heat... Utsuho?!" I flew about, hurriedly looking for her. I didn't really know what I was looking for. Then I heard something over the roar of the flames. It was crying, and nearby. I looked around and found the reason I had fought to enter the horrid place. "Utsuho?"

"What? How do you know who I am? Who are you?" She asked as she turned to face me. She had long dark hair tied with a large green ribbon, dark eyes with a slight reddish coloring, and pair of large wings. She was wearing a white shirt with a red gem that resembled an eye on her chest, and a green skirt. Her right arm had an attachment that seemed to be a weapon of some sort. On her right leg was a boot that seemed to be made of concrete or some similar material, and orbiting around her left ankle were several particles that seemed to be a model of electrons orbiting the nucleus in an atom.

"My name is Jacob Kenneth. Ms. Reimu Hakurei told me about you. I've come to ask you if you know anything about the evil that threatens Gensokyo." I had to talk loudly over the fire.

"I do know a little bit about that... Not much though..."

"Okay... Wait... What's wrong?"

"Well... Look where I am... It's not like I want to be here..."

"Then I guess I should tell you that gathering information isn't my only objective here."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that you're not here at your own fault. Do you want to leave?"

"Yes, I do, but I can't... If I don't watch over the furnace, it could explode..."

"Alright... What do I have to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to shut down the furnace." I explained. She wiped the tears from her eyes, then she hugged me.

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome." I looked towards the brightest of the flames. "Is that it?"

"That's the entrance, yes. It goes down pretty far..."

"So... Exactly how hot is it in there?"

"I don't know. Really really hot?"

"Well, if I can feel it over here, then I'd better work quick to shut it off..."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Indeed."

"Do you have a plan to shut it down?"

"I'm going to try to hold up an energy shield to keep myself from getting fried, and I guess I might start tearing out vitals. Do you know the way out?"

"Well, sort of. Why?"

"Just in case I don't make it out, go let Reimu know what happened to me." I then conjured a visible shield around myself, and jumped flew towards the furnace, and once I got close, flew downward into it. I found a spot brighter than the rest. I couldn't see it in much detail, but I assumed it to be a critical part. I blasted it, and it exploded. The force from the blast threw me against the opposite wall, and I fell a few meters in my disorientation. Suddenly, alarms rang, and on the walls, I could see holographic signs repeating the word caution, in all capital letters, and including the obligatory exclamation point. I saw another vital spot, and fired. It didn't explode as violently, but it exposed a large chamber with a device that seemed to be a generator of some sort. It appeared very unstable. I didn't know if it was a design flaw, or if it was because I had just destroyed part of the furnace. Regardless, it was my next target. I repeatedly shot it until the rotating part came loose, and shot into the wall, punching cleanly through, and into another chamber with a similar device. The chunk of wreckage was propelled with force sufficient to obliterate the entire other device. I turned back, and saw that the furnace was of symmetrical design, and blasted into the opposite two chambers, and destroyed the devices. The flames began to recede. I was able to see the light seemed to be coming exclusively from the bottom of the furnace. I flew out, and hovered above, looking down. Suddenly, an explosion took place in the area that the light was coming from. I had less than a second to react, but I did, and it probably saved my life, and the life of Utsuho. I took all of my remaining strength, and fired a beam straight down to combat the explosion. I barely was able to sustain it, and jets of superheated matter erupted around the edge of the massive beam I fired. Then the explosion's energy dissipated, and the flames died completely. I looked down in triumph as the furnace grew dark. Similarly, the flames in the surrounding area died, and I was again in darkness. "The deed is done... Utsuho, I'm still alive."

"Is it safe to come out now?"

"Yeah... Can you see alright?"

"No... It's really dark in here..."

"Alright." I caught my breath, and generated an aura once again. "Can you see me? I'm the blue glowing thing."

"Ooh! That's neat!"

"Yeah, let's get out of here." The two of us left the radioactive area. Then Utsuho stopped me.

"So, before we get to the surface, let me get rid of that radioactivity..." She held out her hand, and I started glowing even more. The glow dissipated again so that my aura was once again the only light. She did the same thing to get rid of the radiation for herself. "There, all clean!"

"Well, that's a useful ability."

"I know, right?"

"Right, shall we continue?"

"Yeah, let's go." We continued on our route to the surface, and eventually we crossed the bridge. I knew it wasn't much further. We flew for a little bit longer, and found the surface at last. I landed at the exit, and looked back. Utsuho landed beside me.

"Thank you Jacob... I guess I owe you a lot..."

"Utsuho. I couldn't have just left you there. You don't owe me anything."

"Either way, thank you so much..." She then hugged me again.

"Are you two just about done?" Reimu interrupted. "What happened down there? Did you shut the furnace off?"

"Yeah. That thing's not coming back on any time soon."

"I guessed. I felt the ground shaking all the way up here..."

"It was a nuclear furnace, right? I imagine they'd be pretty explosive."

"Well, yeah. That's why I had you disable it. At least you contained the blast, and it didn't end up erupting out of the surface."

"An atomic volcano would not be fun."

"My point exactly."

"So uh... What now?" Utsuho asked.

"Hm... I could see if I can ask Patchouli if there's more room at the mansion. I guess until they wake up, I'll see if I can't find some place for housing." I explained. "Oh, and where's Jakob?"

"He went to the clinic." Reimu answered.

"Two days in a row I see..."

"It seems that way."

"Poor guy. I got shot up once, but he's gotten it twice."

"Well, Eirin told me that when you went into the clinic that you went unconscious from blood loss."

"That pretty much happened to him too. Then again, his last visit was for minor injuries. It was a good thing I had that medicine with me."

"Yeah."

"Uh. Hello?" Utsuho entered the conversation.

"Sorry Utsuho. Reimu, do you have any ideas where we could rent housing or something?"

"Uh... An inn?" She replied.

"Oh. I think that's too temporary... I'd be better off building a shack myself."

"I guess you should try the mansion. Other than that, I really don't know."

"Well, thanks for trying."

"Sorry I couldn't be more helpful."

"No worries. Alright Utsuho, let's go take a look in town."

"Okay buddy." She cheerfully agreed. We then took flight towards the village Patchouli brought me to for clothes shopping. It took some time to get there, and the time I spent underground had brought me past the sunrise. I looked about, but didn't see much of anything in terms of residences. Then the two of us set out for the mansion. I got past the gatekeeper, Hong Meiling. She knew I was to be admitted entry. She didn't care much about Utsuho. Sakuya met me at the door.

"Hello Jacob. Who is that?"

"She's a friend of mine, Utsuho Reiuji."

"Should I get Patchouli?"

"Uh... Okay." A few moments later, Patchouli came to the door.

"Hi Jacob. Who is that?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" Utsuho wondered aloud.

"Uh... She's a friend of mine. I was wondering if she could stay here too." I told Patchouli.

"Does she have no other place to go?" She asked.

"Well uh... Not really... Patchouli, I just got her out of Hell, I had to destroy the nuclear furnace down there. The place isn't exactly pretty. I don't imagine it ever was, really."

"A bit more warning would have been nice."

"Sorry, but it was pretty urgent that I got her out."

"Why was it?"

"I needed to ask her if she knew anything about whatever plans to destroy Gensokyo."

"So she's associated with it?!"

"No! No she is not! Reimu Hakurei told me that Utsuho told her about the actual threat. I was just wondering if she'd learned anything else since. Besides, it's not like she's done anything wrong."

"Okay. I'm still not sure we can support her."

"Patchouli. I'm not going to abandon her, so do you at least know somewhere we could rent housing or something?"

"No real ideas. Perhaps you should become Eirin's apprentice, she'd probably house you..."

"That wouldn't be very honest. I can't take advantage..."

"Very well. Wait here." Then she went back inside.

"What are we going to do?" Utsuho worriedly inquired.

"I don't know, Utsuho..." I wondered what Patchouli was planning. It was odd for her to take such an impersonal attitude towards me, simply because I was with a friend. Eventually, she came back to the door.

"Here." She spoke, still showing little emotion. She handed me a book about elemental magic. "I have several copies of it. It should help you in terms of acquiring materials for building a temporary home." Two of the elements were metal and wood. She wasn't joking, because she closed the door again.

"Well then... I wonder when she'll realize my spare outfits are in there. So are my good clothes." I started to feel sick. I was thinking again about my family, so to distract myself, I knocked on the door. Patchouli answered again. She already was holding the clothes I had left. "Well... Thanks Patchouli... I guess I'll see you next time."

"Goodbye Jacob." She said, now in a troubled tone. I wasn't sure how to react. In the outside world, the two of us were best friends, and it seemed she had forgotten that.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"What?"

"The way you said that leads me to believe I have wronged you. I at least must know what my mistake was."

"You have not."

"Then why are you doing this? You're turning me away as if I were a complete stranger. I don't understand..."

"I don't mean to... I don't mean to turn you away... It's just that I don't think we can support you..."

"You can charge me rent if that's what you need."

"No, we simply can't support any more people like this."

"Patchouli, what's the matter?" Remilia asked her from inside. "Oh, Jacob. I see you've brought a friend too, come on in." As we walked in, Patchouli backed away from Utsuho.

"Patchouli, she's not radioactive..."

"Huh? She isn't? Well then... Sorry..." Apparently that was why Patchouli was concerned. With that detail cleared up, I handed her book back, then Utsuho and I set up in the maids' quarters. I lay down on my bed, and sighed loudly.

"I need break from all of this. For the past few days it's all been me shooting at things, getting shot, and then my friends getting shot too. I just want a break..." I muttered to myself, and then drifted off to sleep.


	21. Peace and Discovery

I woke up, earlier than everyone else once again. Then I realized that my shift wasn't for another few hours. I slapped my forehead in frustration. I walked outside, and once again got a breath of fresh air. I was contemplating visiting Reimu, but I thought she might have been asleep. Then I heard something behind me.

"Oh. Hi Utsuho."

"Hi Jacob."

"I think I'm going to go back to sleep."

"I, uh... I kind of woke up too early."

"Oh." Then I went back to bed, and woke up at ten in the morning. I wandered around the mansion for a few moments, hoping to find someone to train with, but everyone was asleep. I was a bit frustrated, as Eirin was understanding enough to give me time to train before work, but I had nobody to train with. Rather than just pout and waste the time, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went outside to the area where Patchouli had set up targets. I walked over to one of them. I thought of a new attack, and wanted to see if I could actually execute it. In less than a second, I performed the maneuver. I quickly spun, pulled my left arm close to myself, outstretched my right arm, and generated a magic blade that extended from my wrist. When I stopped, I saw that the target was cleanly cut in half. Satisfied with having developed a new move for combat, I took flight towards Eientei. During the flight, I generated and dissipated some blades repeatedly, so that I wouldn't forget how the attack was executed. By the time I spotted Eientei, I seemed to have either simply warmed up the attack, or I had mastered it to my capacity, as the original blade's length was similar to that of my forearm, when I arrived, I could sustain blades that were each the full length of one of my arms. I dissipated the blades again, and landed at the front entrance of Eientei. I walked in a bit early. I was surprised to the friend of my employer, Kaguya Houraisan, who I had only met on the day I first entered the clinic.

"Hello Mr. Kenneth."

"Hello Ms. Houraisan. You were expecting me?"

"Yes. I heard about the incident yesterday."

"You did now?"

"Yes. I heard why too. I know you're also trying to stop the growing evil that may destroy Gensokyo."

"Yeah. That's what I've been trying to do. It's hard when I don't even know what it is I'm trying to stop."

"It is unfortunate. I was wondering if I could help you out in any way."

"Well, that would be nice, but I'm not sure you know all too much more than me at this point. None of us really know what's going on."

"I know, but I'd like to help you." She insisted with a smile.

"Well. I'm not in a position to turn any help down."

"Okay, you still have quite some time until your shift. If you would, follow me." I did as instructed, and she led me nearby into her home. She knelt by a rather short table, and I knelt across from her, understanding that in the culture that seemed to encompass Gensokyo in majority did not make much use of chairs. "So, I understand you destroyed the nuclear furnace, and liberated Utsuho Reiuji."

"That is correct."

"I will warn you of this. The Moriya Shrine has two goddesses, Kanako Yasaka, and Suwako Moriya. They are responsible for the construction of the furnace. They will likely find out about its destruction."

"I see..."

"Does that not scare you?"

"Well... Maybe a little bit. Really though, they of all people should be able to understand that Gensokyo doesn't need a nuclear furnace of all things."

"You do have a point. Also, have you learned anything yet from Ms. Reiuji?"

"No I haven't. I haven't asked yet, due to the fact that she had just met the surface for the first time in whatever time span."

"I understand. You should make sure that you ask her if she knows anything, and soon. Perhaps she can lead us to anyone else who may have ideas."

"So, detective work, eh?"

"Um... Detective work?"

"Oh... Nothing..."

"Anyway, there is one thing I need to mention. There is someone who you need to watch out for..."

"Huh?"

"Well, you know the one who helped you during your journey? He's friends with someone who Let's just say that I'm not on good terms with. Her name is Mokou Fujiwara. I must advise you not to let either of them find out that you're involved with me, for your own safety."

"I understand. Is there anything else we should discuss?"

"Yes, actually. The world is supposed to end some time slightly less, than a full year away... If it's possible, I would like you to report here once you have asked Ms. Reiuji about the incident."

"Worry not, I'll be sure to ask her."

"Anyway, we still have time before your shift. Would you like to stay for tea? Perhaps the two of us could become acquainted."

"If you wish, I'll stay."

"Very well, I'll get some tea ready." She then went into another room, and I waited. I knew any help I could get would get me closer to being able to stop the evil being that wanted to destroy Gensokyo. I also felt like it couldn't hurt to have another friend. I ran a hand down my cheek, and realized I was starting to grow noticeable stubble. I knew better than to scratch my face, as I had the feeling Kaguya would walk back in at any second. My self control prevailed, as I waited for at least three more minutes until she finally came back. I didn't exactly know what she thought of my appearance, but I didn't tend to worry about that very often. In fact, my appearance was one thing I never worried about. Suddenly, since I started befriending so many people that I was going to be seeing daily, I figured at least a shave was necessary. My hair had grown even longer since I had flown to Japan, and still was disheveled most mornings, requiring me to persistently try to comb it back into relative order, but my comb was in my apartment. With an extra few centimeters, it was getting long enough to weigh itself down in the back. I couldn't help but feel unprofessional compared to Kaguya. Her appearance was obviously well attended, while I usually just ran a wet comb through my hair and called it good enough.

"I apologize for the wait. I had misplaced the leaves for the tea. Anyway, Eirin told me that you were from the outside world."

"This is true. So is Jakob Wolfgang, the one who helped me get to Utsuho."

"It's been a while since we last saw the outside world... I wonder what technological advancements they've made."

"Meh... Technology is good, but it hasn't been moving a whole lot recently."

"Oh."

"I remember when all the movies back when I was a kid told me that by now, we would have hover cars, the world would be a utopia with all that good and fancy futuristic fantasy stuff." Kaguya laughed a bit, but something was off on her tone, almost as if she were confused. "Have you ever seen any movies like that?"

"Not really."

"Oh... My friends in the outside. If they ever find out how long I've lasted without my cell phone, they would never be able to believe it. Not that I'm reliant on phones. Then again, they have all the latest phones with fancy touch-screens, and I still have a physical keyboard on mine, and boy do I get teased for it sometimes, even though I always leave it on my nightstand at home anyway..."

"Well... Some tea then?" She asked. I had the feeling she had no idea what I was talking about. I guessed she saw the outside as a child, and didn't remember anything about it.

"Oh, thanks." She poured a small cup of tea, and handed it to me. "Say... Do you know about any of the stuff I just was talking about? You looked pretty confused."

"Honestly, no I don't."

"Well, a phone, I'll start there. A phone is a handheld device that you can use to talk to people." I took a sip of the tea, and set the cup back on the table. "Imagine Ms. Yagokoro had a phone, and I had mine with me. I would just need to punch in a number, and it would send a call. If she answered it, then I could just talk to her like I'm talking to you now."

"Hm..."

"I need to show you mine some time." That was when it hit me. My cousin's marriage. It was going to happen in a few days, and just then I figured out a solution to my grand dilemma. I planned to go to Patchouli, ask her where Yukari resided, and find out if she could open a portal for me. While doing that, I would bring back the phone, but then I realized how pointless it would be to do, except to physically show Kaguya what the heck it was. I imagine her holding the device, staring at it in complete confusion. Then I wondered if I could simply bring her with me. "So... Actually, my cousin's getting married soon. My family requested me back. I might go back to the outside world, then return to Gensokyo to fight off the evil. Would you and Eirin perhaps like to join me?"

"Actually, I'm sure Eirin would like that."

"I'll ask Utsuho about the evil thing, then I might ask Yukari about the possibility of us going through."

"Very well, I shall notify Eirin as well."

"Okay, it's about time for work for me."

"Actually, I'll talk to Eirin. How about you just go and talk to Ms. Reiuji, and then find out whether or not it's possible to go to the outside world."

"Are you sure she wouldn't mind?"

"Certain. Don't worry, I'll explain your absence, and she'll excuse you without a doubt."

"Very well, I'll go and ask now." I stood up in preparation to leave. "I shall return shortly." I then left, and returned to the mansion. I walked in, as Meiling still was instructed to permit my entry. Utsuho was awake, and apparently had decided to try to take a nap on the floor.

"Hey there Utsuho." I knelt down to talk to her.

"Oh, hey Jacob."

"You should probably get up before Sakuya notices you. So, I was wondering about yesterday. You said you knew a little bit about the evil being that wants to destroy Gensokyo. I was wondering what that was."

"Oh... I don't really know too much. I told Reimu about a threat we received a while ago. I don't remember that, but... What was I going to say?" I anxiously waited, hoping she hadn't forgotten any critical information. "Oh... It said that the Hakurei Barrier was going to collapse. If he did that, Gensokyo and the outside world would both be doomed."

"How would he go about doing that?"

"By killing Reimu..."

"What? You're serious?"

"Yeah, as much as I wish I wasn't." She confirmed. I fell silent. Whatever the enemy was, it was specifically targeting one of my only friends.

"Why? Reimu's one of my friends here... Does she know she's being targeted?"

"I don't think so."

"Then I should warn her! Is there anything else?"

"No."

"I have to go!" I ran out the door and flew all the way to the Hakurei Shrine. I focused all of the energy I had on flying, boosting my speed impressively. I arrived, and Reimu ran out of the shrine. I landed, sliding a bit, and sending up a small dust cloud.

"Jacob? What's the matter? I heard you flying from inside the shrine!"

"Reimu, Utsuho told me something about the thing that's threatening Gensokyo!"

"What about it?"

"Reimu, it's going to collapse the barrier! It's targeting you!"

"What?"

"Reimu, you have to be careful, I might be heading to the outside world soon, if you want, I can get a radio or something so we can stay in contact." I started to calm down from the shock of learning Reimu was directly in danger.

"I guess that would be nice... Well, if I knew what a radio was..."

"Don't worry, I'll show you how to use it and everything."

"Oh... Okay..."

"Also, I need to talk to Yukari. Where might I find her?" A few seconds of silence passed, but were then interrupted.

"I'm here, I'm here..." Yukari appeared from a portal she had created.

"Oh, hi."

"Do you need something?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could use a portal to teleport me to the outside world, particularly the United States, if you know where that is."

"Yeah, I guess. Try not to awaken me so much though... It doesn't feel right to ignore people when they're talking about me, but I still don't like having to get out of bed..."

"Sorry."

"Why do you need to go there?"

"My cousin is getting married, and my family wants me to come home. I will return of course, but this is, as my mother emphasized, a once-in-a-lifetime type of event. I don't want to disappoint my family."

"Oh. I see. Do you have to go now?"

"No actually. Also, I may be bringing two people with me."

"That's fine... Anyway, I'll get back to sleep..." She then went back through the portal.

"Remember what I said, Reimu. You have to be careful..." I then left a few more coins in the donation box, and took off. After a few minutes, I arrived at Eientei once again. I went to speak with Kaguya. She was still in the same room as before. I walked in and sat down. "Yukari agreed to bring us through." I informed her.

"Good. Did you find out anything about our enemy?"

"Yeah... Apparently it's targeting Reimu Hakurei..."

"Oh."

"At least she knows about it now... Anyway, so you said Eirin wanted to come along?"

"Yes. She also wanted to see what technology exists in the other world."

"So, when do we plan to head out?"

"Tomorrow perhaps?"

"That would be fine. Anyway, my family will probably ask who you are if you're coming with me... I'm not sure how I'll explain that."

"That is a good point. I suppose you can just explain that I'm a good friend you met while you were away."

"Well, I wouldn't really be lying."

"Good."

"I should go and start my preparations. Should I return here?"

"How about at ten tonight? In my opinion, tea is best during the nightly hours." It was one and a half hours after noon, giving me plenty of time until sundown.

"Will do." I walked by the clinic, and noticed Jakob walking out. I was intrigued, by his fast recovery, but I saw it best not to ask questions. I went to the human village, and purchased a backpack, not quite like the one I had used at school. I then flew back to the mansion. Remilia was in the hallway as I made my way to the maids' quarters.

"Ms. Scarlet, I'll be leaving for a few days now. Please inform the others, I don't want them to worry over my absence."

"I understand. I will let them know."

"Thanks." I quickly rolled up my spare outfits, and loaded them into the backpack. I then took the medicine bag, and picked apples nearby for the trip. Then I visited the Hakurei Shrine, left a generous donation, and returned to Eientei. Kaguya welcomed me back in, and I found Eirin was there as well. "Hello."

"Hello Jacob." Kaguya returned my greeting.

"So, what's the plan now? Should we just wait here until tomorrow?"

"Yes, you can stay here if you would like."

"Thanks Kaguya. Anyway, Yukari should be sending us all to an area near my house. As long as we're placed in the county, I should have no trouble at all finding my way around. So, what are you two looking forward to?"

"Just learning a bit about your lifestyle, and how the world has improved."

"Ah. Same for you Eirin?"

"Yes."

"So..." I yawned, starting to grow tired. "If you want me to stay here overnight, I can sleep on the floor."

"That's not really necessary, but if you insist, you may." Kaguya replied.

"Don't worry. I've slept in a tent before, I can handle this." I lay back as they continued to speak, and before I knew it, I fell asleep.


	22. Displeasing Reunification

I woke up, and saw it was morning. Kaguya and Eirin were both awake.

"Yukari? Can you hear me?" I asked aloud, expecting her to pop out of a portal. She did not disappoint me, and quickly emerged from behind me.

"Are you ready to leave?" She asked.

"I am. Kaguya, Eirin? Are you ready to go?" I looked back to see them nod in approval. "We're ready. You know where to?"

"I saw the address on the letter you wrote. That's where to, correct?"

"Indeed."

"Oh, you have a phone, correct?"

"Yes."

"You should call me when you need to return, it's not as easy to tell if people are talking to me in the outside world." She gave me a slip of paper with her phone number written on it.

"Thank you." Then the three of us walked through. I was amazed just how accurately we had been placed. We were directly at the bottom of the long, uphill gravel driveway that I had grown up seeing. It was early in the evening. I started to walk up, then I remembered one thing. "You two should know, magic isn't so effective here in the outside world. Stay close to me, okay?"

"I see. Without magic, how would you protect us?" Kaguya asked.

"Oh, I can always pepper-spray people." She gave me a quizzical look. "Uh... Don't worry, you'll be safe. This is my family after all." We walked up the driveway, and to the old front door. We heard noise from inside, like music. "That doesn't sound good..." I pushed the partially shattered plastic doorbell button. When the door opened, it was some half-drunk person who I could only hope was one of my cousin's friends. I backed away a few steps. "Who the heck are you? Geoff! You'd better hope you had Mom and Dad's permission for this!" I stomped into the house, Kaguya and Eirin nervously followed me. Suddenly, the house grew silent. My cousin was in the family room. I stood there, and it was silent. Mom and Dad were there too, and I had no idea what that drunken idiot was doing there. "What is going on here?!"

"Jacob...?" My mother asked.

"Yes it's me, but what is going on?! Are these people supposed to be adults?! They're like the stereotypical beer-fueled party maniacs! Isn't this a bad thing?!" Then I heard someone rambling what I understood to be a vulgar comment towards Kaguya, as she grabbed my shoulder and was backing away from the suspect. "Hey, buddy! Back off!" I shoved them away. He continued to ramble, and tried to grab at Kaguya. His hand brushed her arm, but before he could make any further contact, he was forced away by me punching him hard in the face. He fell on his back, and stayed down. I wasn't sure which knocked him unconscious, between his inebriation and the blow I had dealt.

"Jacob! What was that?!" My cousin interjected.

"Don't say anything unless it's an explanation for the drunks!"

"Look, we just decided to throw a party to take our minds off of you not being able to show up..."

"Well, that's nice I guess, but you should know that a celebration for me should be more cultured! Alcoholism is a plague, and I do not condone it!"

"Well, what makes you think you're so into rightly moral practice?!" My cousin retorted, standing up. "Where did the two girls come from?"

"I don't think I like what you're implying! Would you like to elaborate, so I know exactly where to hit you, and just how hard?!"

"Jacob! Calm down!" Kaguya intervened. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, giving me a hug. I could tell she was scared, as I was about to deal blows.

"Look, all three of you!" I yelled with intense fury, mixed with utter devastation. "I came here to celebrate Geoff's wedding! You don't know what I have had to go through to get back here! I've put my education at a halt, and this is how you repay me?! I can leave just as easily as I got here, and I don't care what you say! If this is how much you care about me, then I'll just leave, but this time I won't come back!"

"Look, Jacob... We're sorry..." My mother replied. "We had no idea..."

"No, and you still don't... I have my own problems that need solving... I put them aside to come back here... All I ask is for some respect..." I stomped my way up the stairs, and to the bedroom I was so used to sleeping in. Fortunately it was undisturbed by the chaos below. I sat down, and held my head in my hands, fighting to hold back my tears. Kaguya sat next to me on the bed.

"Jacob... Please don't worry. Everything will be okay."

"I hope so Kaguya..." I lowered my hands. Then, Kaguya lightly held the hand she was closest to. "Thanks Kaguya... At least I have you and Eirin with me while I'm here..."

"You're welcome... I'm happy to be here for you..." I looked to the side at her, and managed to smile. She smiled back. I was very displeased by my stay so far, except for that Kaguya and I were bonding. I looked through my cluttered nightstand and found my phone. I showed it to them.

"This is that phone thing I mentioned. See how it has all the buttons with numbers to punch in a number combination?"

"Oh."

"Unfortunately the only people I have to call are downstairs except for Yukari."

"So you can't demonstrate then?"

"Nope..."

"Actually, I need to call Yukari, so you can watch." I dialed Yukari's number.

"Hello?"

"Hello Yukari. I need you to keep an eye on Reimu while I'm gone. I should have let you know, but the evil whatever-it-is may be targeting her... We can't risk letting anything bad happen to her."

"I understand. So how have things been on the other side?"

"Not too good so far... My house is full of a bunch of drunken morons..."

"Before a wedding?"

"Yeah, that was my thought too... Apparently they were throwing a party in honor of me... I don't know if they could have done anything to humiliate me much more... Anyway, I'll be going now, bye."

"Bye." The call ended, and I lay back. My mother entered the room.

"Jacob?"

"Mom... When even is the wedding? If this is how it's going to be, and I have to wait for more than one more day, I'll just leave now."

"I'll make sure he doesn't hold any more parties..."

"Yeah, and I'll make sure that he won't get away with being so out-of-line."

"He does bring up a good question."

"That is?"

"Who are your friends?" Kaguya stood up to introduce herself.

"My name is Kaguya Houraisan. My friend Eirin Yagokoro came along with us as well. We're very good friends with Jacob."

"Is that so?"

"Mom. What else would they be? I wouldn't just bring a bunch of strangers home with me..."

"Ladies, I need to talk to my son alone now." Kaguya and Eirin left the room. My mother and I were alone in the room. "Jacob. What is going on?"

"Mom. Things have been happening, one of those occurrences would include me making a few friends."

"Girlfriends?"

"Mother..."

"It's okay, I understand."

"Mother, it's not like that anyway... They just wanted to see the lifestyle I have over here, and so far, I don't think you're putting in any good reputation for us. You have no idea how humiliated I am... I literally had to punch someone in the face for harassing Kaguya..."

"I noticed. That took some nerve to do."

"Let's just say, I'm not a pushover by any means."

"You've never been one."

"Neither will I ever become one. So, give it to me straight, how long am I going to have to suffer through this?"

"The wedding is in two days."

"Good... I couldn't handle much more than that..."

"He won't be holding any more parties, I can assure you that."

"No more of his drunk buddies are going to try to touch my friend either, that is without getting knocked out."

"Jacob, maybe you're being a bit too aggressive."

"I'll be as aggressive as I have to be!" I realized I was reacting a bit harshly. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not letting anyone harass my friends."

"I know. I understand you're protective of them but you can't just hit people."

"They will not harass my friends, that is final."

"Don't worry..."

"Keep Geoff under control... Please."

"I will..." She left the room, then Kaguya and Eirin walked back in.

"So... I can sleep on the floor again if you'd like."

"This is your home, shouldn't we let you have the bed?" Kaguya asked. I saw Eirin was staring at the television mounted on my wall.

"You're my guests, it's only right that I let you two use the furniture. Plus, I'm used to sleeping on the floor."

"Very well, if you insist..."

"Well, it's still early, shall I try to give you a tour?"

"That would be good."

"Alright. Let's go on outside." I led them out the door. Luckily, no more partygoers dared to harass either of them. I walked out the back door, and then I nearly vomited again. The same Autumn air that I breathed as I grew up had been poisoned with the stench of alcohol. I gritted my teeth, and walked around the house.

"What's this?" Eirin asked, indicating the large cylindrical gas tank that fueled our fireplace.

"It's a storage device. I believe it stores natural gas. It's a fossil fuel."

"A fossil fuel?"

"Uh. I'd sound like I was raving if I were to explain what they are and how they're made

"I see."

"Anyway, how about we head into town? There's plenty of things I can show you there."

"Okay." Then the three of us walked to town. It took some time for us to finally arrive. The two seemed amazed by the buildings and all of the lights. It was still bright, and they didn't get to see the full beauty of town at night. After a while of showing the two around, we went back to my house. By that time it was evening, and we went to sleep. I slept on the floor, Eirin slept on the reclining chair in my bedroom, and Kaguya slept in the bed.


	23. Getting Attached

I woke up to the sharp corner of my door jamming into my back. I found it to be Geoff. I was not exactly in the mood to see him. I looked up, my expression harboring ill feelings towards him. I hoped for his sake that he didn't decide to insult Eirin and Kaguya.

"What are you doing here?" I asked with frustration surfacing in my voice.

"Just making sure you three aren't messing around." I immediately kicked the door shut in his face. Eirin and Kaguya were still asleep. Annoyed by Geoff's insolence, I figured out a way to ward him off. I searched through some of the many boxes that littered the room. I eventually found what I was looking for, my old pellet gun. It was already loaded, so I pulled the slide back, and it was ready to fire. After a few moments of silence, the door slowly opened. Geoff peered in, and I shot him in the shoulder with a well-aimed pellet. He immediately slammed the door and left. I had to give some effort to prevent myself from laughing. Satisfied with my retaliation, I put the pellet gun back in the box. I just hoped that would be the last transgression of his. I once again went to sleep in front of the door. A short time passed, then, I was awakened by Kaguya.

"Oh... Hi..." I mumbled, drowsy from my nap.

"Hello Jacob. Are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm just tired."

"Oh... I was wondering... Is there anything here you'd like to show me? Not necessarily for technological reasons, but, I'd like to know a bit more about you."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you have any good memories of this place?"

"Oh, of course."

"Could we go outside, and then you tell me a bit about what it was like growing up here? Also, while we're out there alone, I'd like to tell you a bit about myself."

"Alright then." I got up, and remembered something. "I need to shave."

"Hm?"

"I'm starting to grow a bit of a beard, and I'd prefer not to." I went into the bathroom, took off my shirt, doused my face with warm water, applied shaving cream, then took a clean razor and shaved my face clean. I didn't notice that Kaguya was watching me all the while, as I had forgotten to close and lock the door because of my foggy consciousness. "Oh. Hi there."

"Hello." I wiped my face off with a towel, and was finished. I quickly brushed my teeth, then put my shirt back on.

"Alright, there is one place I always like to be." I led her downstairs and out the back door again. We walked away from the house, and to the fire pit. I sat down on one of the chairs that was there, and Kaguya did similarly. It was still dark, so I went into the storage barn, and took matchbook. I went back, and started a fire. Kaguya moved her chair so that it was directly next to mine. "Where to start with this place? I have a few memories here, good and bad."

"Well, what about the good ones?"

"Well... This spot in particular. When times were tough for me, I'd always come here, where I could be alone. Many times, I'd find myself sitting out here at night. Sometimes I would even bring my telescope out here, and spend the entire night looking into the sky."

"Is this the only place you have memories of?

"Well, no, but it always was one of my very favorite places to be. Sometimes though, my brother, Bryan, would come out here and spend time with me. Bryan was the only one who could really understand how I felt whenever I was upset. Geoff and I, as you've seen, bear quite a bit of hatred for each other. My parents practically adopted him, and he started to replace me, basically stealing my parents from me. Bryan and I have respect for each other, and I miss him more than I ever could Geoff. Luckily he should be here for the wedding. When he arrives, I'll have someone I can talk to aside from just you and Eirin."

"I'm sorry to hear about you and Geoff..."

"Don't be sorry. I never liked him, it's not like I feel bad about it or anything."

"Oh... I thought you would have felt a bit sorry about losing your respect for him.

"I never really could respect him in the first place, as he never was respectful towards me, and he was very disrespectful towards you yesterday.

"What did he mean when he asked where we came from? He didn't sound like he was being very friendly..."

"He wasn't being, and I'd prefer not to think about that. Anyway, so back to the good memories. See that behind us, the clear thing that resembles a tarp?"

"Yes, is it covering something?"

"Yeah, it's a swimming pool. Even in the morning it's pretty warm. My family and I often spent a lot of time there. Even when I went had begun to isolate myself, I'd still sometimes join them."

"Ah... So... If that's all, there's something I've been wanting to tell you..."

"That is?"

"Okay, let me explain... I'm not exactly from Gensokyo either, but I'm also not from this world. I come from the Moon."

"Wait, but there's no life on the... Is there an alternate dimension for the Moon too, like Gensokyo is for Earth?"

"Yes, the Far Side of the Moon. I'm a lunarian. I was once a princess before I was exiled to the outside world, then I sought refuge in Gensokyo."

"How long ago were you exiled?"

"Over a thousand years ago." I was somewhat confused by the information she had just revealed. "It's interesting how you don't seem disturbed that I have existed for over ten times the lifespan of any member of your species."

"Why should I be? Many things have been happening that are far more disturbing. Per example, I've literally been to Hell and back."

"That is true." She got a bit more comfortable. "You fascinate me, Jacob. I haven't seen you unnerved yet. Not even hearing that two goddesses may have unfriendly feelings towards you was able to break your composure."

"I'll have you know that not much can rattle me."

"I do have to ask, does anything scare you?"

"A few things, I'm no perfect being by any standards. None of the more normal things. Not spiders, fire, or any of the life threatening things, not the normal things."

"Any particular examples?"

"Having to lose my friends and loved ones would be an example."

"Oh... That's not too unusual..." I saw her face was concerned. "Jacob... I need to tell you something about myself, I'm not just a lunarian. I'm immortal."

"Now it makes some more sense how you have been around for so long."

"Jacob, you're going to be fighting the worst enemy Gensokyo has ever faced... You're one of the very few friends I've had in a long time, I want to help you out with something..."

"What's that?"

"You and I share that fear, and I don't want to lose you, as I already know that we will become great friends. I don't want your life to be taken, neither by age, nor anything else... Jacob, understand that even with becoming immortal, those older than you shall pass first, and still would without immortality."

"You... You want to make me immortal?"

"Yes..."

"Well... Once I go back to Gensokyo, it's not likely that I'll ever be able to return for any length of time. I... I never really wanted to become immortal..." Kaguya's look started to change to worry. I didn't feel very much in the mood to upset her. "Then again, it's not my choice... If I'm going to be a major part in saving Gensokyo, I do need all the help I can get."

"Well, the immortality will have to wait until we get back. It's good to know you're willing to do this."

"Yeah... I'd probably die pretty quickly if it were possible... Heck, I nearly got shot to death by, I don't know, fairies?"

"In your defense, you were still not used to your powers. Getting to Utsuho would be a difficult task for just about anyone, and you did it with no problem."

"I did nearly get burned into nothing."

"That was the furnace. Another interesting thing is that normally, Utsuho would have tried to stop you as I've heard, thinking you were a contaminant. She must have trusted you, and with good reason."

"Perhaps she was just desperate enough to let just about anyone escort her to the surface."

"Perhaps, but still I think she would at least be wary of who she would trust to lead her out. So, have you learned anything else aside from the fact that the enemy is targeting Reimu?

"Yeah, I've not been too eager to ask Utsuho questions. She did just get to the surface from a pretty miserable place, I won't pester her while she adjusts."

"That is a good point."

"I must say, I'm liking the peace and quiet now. I'd hate to have to step into any more unnecessary conflict. That's a lot of what I've found myself in as of yet, with the exception of the first incident when I nearly was killed. I saved Sakuya's life, nearly losing my own, there was no avoiding the fighting that time."

"Your selfless character is likely one of the reasons you're said to be able to defeat whatever plans to destroy Gensokyo."

"Yeah, maybe that's true. Still, it's a pretty heavy responsibility that is going to test more than just my willpower."

"True, but courage will prevail. I hope..." She looked down, getting rather worried again.

"Kaguya... I'm sorry if I sound pessimistic... Don't worry, everything will be fine. I'll stop whatever evil is coming. It's a fool to it's going to try to destroy Gensokyo and not get a piece of my mind for it!" I assured her with my energetic voice. She put her hand on my hand, which was resting closest to her on the chair armrests. The two of us watched the fire as the Sun slowly began to show over the horizon.


	24. Multiple Targets

Reimu hurriedly flew to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, hoping to ask Utsuho a few things.

"If what Jacob told me was true... I really need to be careful..." She worriedly spoke to herself. After some time, she arrived at her destination. She breathed a sigh of relief from not having been attacked. "Well, maybe it's just not going to attack during broad daylight." Reimu approached the gate. She had been through enough times for Meiling to know better than to try to stop her. Sakuya was there near the door, and was a bit more wary of her presence.

"What are you doing here?" Sakuya asked.

"I need to talk to Utsuho. I haven't come here to fight you..."

"Very well... She often takes naps on the floor, why she does so is beyond me." She then went back to work. Reimu heard light snoring, and headed towards the source. It was Utsuho, as she had guessed. Reimu gently shook her by the shoulder.

"Huh? What?" Utsuho sleepily muttered.

"I need to ask you about the... The whatever it is that's threatening Gensokyo."

"Oh. I still don't know much, but you really should be careful. It may be trying to kill you."

"That's what I've heard."

"Yeah, I don't know any more than that."

"Okay then, if that's everything, I'll be going."

"That's everything." Utsuho lay on the floor again to continue napping. Reimu left and flew back to the Hakurei Shrine. When she arrived, she just paced about for a few moments, confused.

"I wonder if Yukari knows anything about this..." A moment later, Yukari emerged from a portal.

"Yes, yes, you're going to ask me, I get it... Why can I never have a bit of warning?"

"Sorry, but do you know anything about this?"

"Well, what is there to know? Nobody knows anything about it..."

"That's a good point, but do you know anything in particular?"

"Well, I've overheard a bit... One thing was that it's going to try to go after you. Another thing was that it's trying to kill Jacob too. In fact, I think it wants to kill him first."

"You didn't tell him that?!"

"No, I didn't want to worry him."

"He can handle that kind of knowledge. I'm fairly certain, at least. Is he still in the outside world?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good. At least he's safe."

"I suppose. Is there anything else you need, or can I go back to sleep now?"

"You don't know anything else?"

"No, sorry. Not at the moment."

"Well, you can go back to sleep."

"Okay." She went back through the portal, leaving Reimu wondering anxiously.

"Why would it want to kill Jacob though?"


	25. Second Day at Home

Kaguya and continued to sit by the fire pit. Soon, Eirin came outside and joined us. The sunrise took my mind off of the unfortunate things. I normally only sat outside and watched the sunrise when I had isolated myself, but there I was doing the same thing, but with friends. Many would find the sunrise boring, and uneventful as it always happened every day, nearly the same exact way. I still watched it as a sign of hope, that brightness and good would overcome, and I needed hope more than ever, as I was going to face possibly the most powerful enemy Gensokyo had ever seen.

"So, Kaguya. Do you know anything about what I'm going to be fighting?"

"I wish I did know, but I do not. If I find anything out, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Okay." After some time we went back inside when the Sun had mostly risen, and the fire had burned itself out. I decided to use mouthwash when I went inside, and then I ended up drinking tea. It resulted in a painful freezing feeling in my mouth, as always happened when tea and mouthwash mixed. To avoid allowing it to get worse, I sprayed out the tea in my mouth, and all over the bottom of the kitchen sink where I was drinking. Nobody was watching, fortunately, and so I rinsed the sink out, and went upstairs to take yet another nap. I was interrupted by my mother scolding me, trying to get me to wake up. I was too tired to care exactly what words she threw at me in any particular order. so I got up before I had to endure even more. I wanted to just sleep the day past, to evade the risk of yet another party, but I remembered that it would probably have been just as destructive, whether or not I was conscious at the time. I resolved to stay awake, as I still had a duty to protect Eirin and Kaguya, and I was not going to ignore that fact. I had to face the day whether I wanted to or not. I just hoped that it wouldn't be a miserable one. Then the doorbell suddenly rang. I took the pocket knife in my drawer, and hung it on my belt. I decided I was more than capable to ward off any potential intruders. I opened the door, and found that there was no need to take the tool off of my belt. It was my brother, Bryan. It took no time for me to figure that he had arrived for the wedding, even though he also had some resentment for Geoff. I never liked that Geoff was named what he was. He wasn't a respectful person, and he himself was hard to respect. That was contrasting to my grandfather, who was also named Geoff, but was a very good person, easy to respect, easy to be around, and a very kind and caring person. I didn't like the same name that described my grandfather to be attributed to the punk that called me his cousin, and who was the primary reason I isolated myself from my family. "Hey Bryan." I greeted him.

"Hey little brother." I knew he didn't much like hugs, so I offered to shake his hand, which he accepted. "How has Geoff been? He isn't getting out of line, is he?"

"Well, yesterday the house was swarming with drunks, so you tell me…"

"Wonderful… He really doesn't get that we grew up here, does he?"

"He must have no idea at all. It's disgusting at best."

"Seriously…"

"Well, Mom said there will be no more parties. The best part, he tried to say the party was in my honor."

"That's pretty barbaric by your standards, isn't it?"

"Exactly. I imagine a party for me would be much more respectful, and dignified. In fact, one of my friends was being harassed by one of the inebriated freaks, so I had to sock him in the face. I just sat in my room for a time after. I must admit, it feels good to be back in familiar territory, even if Geoff is still polluting it with his disgraces."

"I can't imagine what it would be like to be so far from home."

"Yeah, not exactly fun with the budget restrictions, I had to take up work, go hungry, and honestly, my education is at a standstill due to recent events."

"Doesn't sound exactly like the vacation that Mom and Dad said it would be."

"Yeah, I didn't expect it to be like that either, but I had just hoped it wouldn't be as bad as it got. Then again, it probably could have been worse."

"Yeah, let's be glad about that much."

"Optimism is a virtue. It was all I really had overseas. I did make a few friends though."

"Jacob, who's there?" Kaguya asked, walking downstairs. Bryan looked at her, somewhat confused.

"It's my brother, Bryan."

"Is she a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, we met while I was away. Her name is Kaguya Houraisan."

"Hello Mr. Kenneth." Kaguya bowed her head respectfully.

"Hello to you Ms. Houraisan. How has Jacob been?"

"He's been very kind and helpful to me."

"Good to hear." He then went to see Mom and Dad. The rest of the day was to function like a reunion of sorts. The only people I could recognize were the family of Geoff, and the rest seemed to be his friends, or other people I didn't have any relation to. I simply ignored most of them, as I had Kaguya and Eirin to tend to. The three of us went back upstairs, and I turned on the television for them to watch. The channel it was on was the news, which I always avoided watching, because it never seemed to show the good as much as it did the bad, and it would always upset me. I put up with it, as Kaguya and Eirin still probably wanted to know a bit more about the outside world.

"I'll warn you two that this may not be an accurate picture of life in the outside world. The media has a way of emphasizing bad things." I then lay back down on the bed, tired. The three of us waited silently, then the broadcast finished.

"What should we do now?" Kaguya asked.

"I really don't know. I used to do a few things, but they're not really group activities. Writing poetry, meditating, stuff like that. Unless we want to do it as a group."

"Well, I'm not very much of a poet..."

"That's okay. I guess we could use the telescope, if only, wait a second, it's still day outside... Here, I've got an idea." I took the alarm clock off of my nightstand and set it to about seven thirty in the afternoon. "I set the alarm to about the time it should get dark, then we can use the telescope."

"You mean that one?" Kaguya asked, pointing at the telescope in the corner of my room. It wasn't the worst telescope ever, but it also wasn't the best. Regardless, I always was amazed by getting a better view at what lay beyond the planet I called home.

"Yep, that's it."

"I have a telescope too. It doesn't look quite like this one though."

"Oh, so you know how to use it?"

"I could probably figure it out."

"Okay, I think I'll change into some of my clothes from here."

"I'll see if I can get the telescope ready."

"Alright, I'll be right back." I went to my closet, took some clothes to make an outfit, went into the bathroom, and put them on. I went back into my room, and took a nap on the bed once more. I was satisfied. I got to live through my first pleasant day back at home. I knew the next day was going to be the last.


	26. A Hasty Retreat

I woke up to the obnoxious sound I could imagine. That sound was my alarm clock. I sat up, and glared at the wall in front of me.

"Oh, you're awake. How do you turn this thing off?" Kaguya asked. She was sitting next to me on the bed. Without a word, I slammed the snooze button on the device of utter annoyance. Before I lifted my hand, I flipped off the switch for the alarm.

"That's how." I answered with a bit of a smirk. It was still the night before the third day. I already knew I would have to return to Gensokyo after the wedding. I didn't know what I could do to savor the day, and I didn't know when I would be called out to help prepare, or simply attend. I got some tea, and some glasses for Kaguya, Eirin, and myself. I went back upstairs, and saw that the telescope was set up "Oh, have you already looked through the telescope already?"

"Well, a little bit..." Kaguya answered.

"Oh, that's okay, I just wanted to make sure you got a chance to see it."

"Thank you for considering us."

"I think I may get back to sleep." I climbed back into bed and once again took a nap. I woke up at ten in the morning, as I had become accustomed to in Gensokyo. I woke up with an odd feeling in my right side. I quickly realized why that was. I looked down, and back over my shoulder. I was lying on my side, and Kaguya wrapped one of her arms around my right side. She woke up, then realized the position she was in.

"Oh. Sorry..." She sleepily apologized as she took her arm off of my side.

"That's okay." Eirin yawned as she woke up as well. I went to take a shower. When that was finished, I sat in my room with Eirin and Kaguya. My mother eventually came upstairs.

"Jacob, we need you downstairs, is that alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's fine." Since the wedding wasn't in an actual church, the house was becoming quite crowded. I was called to a congregation of sorts, but I still knew none of Geoff's friends, so I sat quietly for the few hours, practically being ignored. Then the actual wedding occurred. Kaguya and Eirin came downstairs. I ended up having to see the equally disgusting. The only part that was fine was when we watched Geoff and his soon-to-be wife walk down the aisle. After that, practically, a repeat of the first day back at home ensued. Eirin Kaguya and I went back inside, and to my bedroom. I wrote a note, explaining that I had to leave, and couldn't come back.


	27. Until Our Paths Cross Again

To my dear family,

I have obligations that you would not believe. Knowing this, I will not try to disclose them to you. Instead, I shall simply write you this message, as to serve two functions. I wish to apologize, for what I will be doing may very well be considered abandonment of those I love. Please understand that I leave with much greater purpose, and while you may never know what I will be doing, just know that were I to return home for any continued length of time, catastrophe of previously unsurpassed magnitude will occur, and I will have been responsible. The second purpose aside from my apology for leaving without giving you any jurisdiction on the matter, would be that you may never hear from me again as a result of my obligations. I do not wish that to be the way, but I fear that it is very well in the realm of possibility. Until I have next made contact with you, consider this to be my final farewell.

Until our paths cross,

Your son, Jacob


	28. The First Encounter

I was done with the wedding. All I wanted to was to go back to Gensokyo and make sure Reimu was still safe. I went to each of my family members that I could still bear to look in the eye, and bid them farewell, and gave them a final embrace. They did not know what I was leaving to. I went back inside. I took my fully charged cell phone, grabbed a few hand-held radios, a pack of batteries, and went out the door. Eirin and Kaguya were ready to leave. I left my note in my parents' bedroom, then walked out the door of the house. I turned around, and got one last good look at the home I had been raised in. I wasn't so bothered by that. I was bothered by having to leave the few people on the property that I cared about.

"Goodbye, my family. May you be proud of me as I cast away my ties to this world..." I whispered, as I knew I was not going to return in a reasonable time span. I called Yukari.

"Need to get back through now?" She asked, already knowing why I called.

"Yeah."

"I was awake this time, see?"

"Nice." I complemented, remembering that she did always seem rather tired. She opened a portal. Eirin and Kaguya went through. I breathed deeply, for all I knew, that may have been the last time I would see the place I grew up. I walked through the portal, and we were already in Eientei, and Yukari was there too. She looked like she was fully awake, unlike normal. It was early in the morning, and I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen next. "So, what now?"

"I guess just return to normal." Suddenly, there was a very distant explosion. I looked out a window in the general direction of where the sound came from. Then I had a terrible feeling again. I knew something was wrong. I wasn't sure what it was, or how to react. All I knew I knew was that there was a big problem.

"Kaguya, something's wrong... I can feel it..."

"Wait, don't go yet! Eirin, get the elixir, you still have the batch we made this week, right?"

"Yes, one moment." She confirmed as she left the room. She came back with an ornate and opaque bottle. "I didn't make much, so we can't waste any."

"Wait, we're doing this now?" I asked, wondering if I would be able to still investigate whatever was happening above.

"Yes, it won't take long." Kaguya assured me. Eirin removed the cap of the bottle, which itself was a small cup. She poured the light colored medicine into the cap, and handed it to me. I stared about, wondering if I were to drink it straight away.

"Now?"

"Yes, drink it." Kaguya instructed. I drank it, and handed the cup back. She filled it up again and handed it back.

"Wasn't that enough?"

"The first taste of the medicine stops you from aging. The second grants you immunity to any disease. The third will give you true immortality."

"I see..." I drank the cup again, handed it back, and she filled it once more, and I drank it the third time. "I should go check that out, there's something wrong."

"Should I come with?" Kaguya asked.

"Do you want to? I don't know what I'll be getting into, so if you want to take the same risk, I won't stop you. I should go now, I'll be back soon."

"I think you have this under control, I'll await your return." Hearing Kaguya's confidence in me boosted my own confidence in myself. I then took to flight again in the general direction of where the sound came from. I was at heights that I would have felt nauseous to imagine before I entered Gensokyo, and unlocked my powers. I finally made it to the top of a mountain a considerable distance away. I heard the sound again, and flew towards it. I was surprised when I tried to land on the clouds which formed a sizable platform. I was surprised when I successfully landed. I sprinted towards the source, as I could control my running a bit more directly than flying. I heard the sound a third time, and as I ran through a thin cloud that was blocking my vision like fog on the surface, I saw the source of the noise. I almost started to regret having seen it. It was some barely describable creature that was utterly disgusting. Since it was at least twice my size, it was considerable as an opponent. I knew it was an opponent, as it was attacking. I barely managed to dodge the first waves of bullets it fired. Someone else tried to stop the creature as well. She was a girl with blue hair. I couldn't make out many more details aside from the fact that she had an orange glowing sword, as the thing grabbed her, and she became a projectile aimed at me. I was knocked over, as her head hit me in the chest. Luckily, it was still attached to her body. She tried to get up, but was too dazed. I started to crawl back to get up, but then the thing that threw her fired a beam attack at us. I shoved the girl off of me, and to the side. The beam hit, entering at the bottom of my rib cage, and exiting through my upper back. I wasn't even able to scream from the excruciating pain. The girl fled, and it wasn't long until I was literally lying in a pool of my own blood. It was apparent that the elixir was working, as the beam had traveled through my heart, among other vital organs. The beam was about five centimeters in diameter, more than enough to kill me if I hadn't drank the elixir just moments before. Blood ran down the corners of my mouth, forced up by my failed attempts at breathing. My vision began fading from blood loss. Then I heard a familiar voice.

"Jacob! Jacob, are you okay?!" Then I felt something shaking me from the side. "Wake up buddy! Come on!" I could tell who it was, Utsuho. I couldn't tell whether or not my eyes were even open. Then I heard the firing of bullets. Everything sounded muffled to me. Then I heard her yell, I couldn't tell if it was a battle cry, or a scream of pain. I assumed it to be the latter, and my protective instincts kicked in. In the outside world, if one of my friends was threatened, I lost my calm and collected manner, and my mind threw away all considerations of my own limitations. As such, I would be willing to fight someone twice my size if to protect a friend. That same thing started to take me over. My vision slowly recovered, and I felt my strength return. The pain faded away. I could see clearly once more, and I saw the situation that Utsuho was in. She had been hit with a shot that fortunately was unable to either kill or severely wound her. I got up and prepared to fight. My wound was still open and bleeding profusely, but nothing was going to deter me from my counterattack. I charged a beam twice the strength of the one that hit me. I fired it with incredible precision for my state, firing it directly into the target's chest. Utsuho came to my side. She was sweating, and I couldn't have blamed her. Blood still dripped freely from the open wound, but it was slowing.

"Don't worry Utsuho, you've got a buddy for this fight!" I got into fighting stance, and charged with intense speed, zoning in for close-quarters combat. The monster tried to hit me with a hand, but I generated blades as I had practiced before the wedding, and slashed at the creature. Unfortunately, the blades were only the length they were when I first used them, about half their full potential. The attack proved just as effective against mutated flesh as it did against targets. I continued to viciously attack. I slashed repeatedly at the creature, and then Utsuho fired a beam while I distracted it. I had landed at least a dozen slashes, and Utsuho landed several other beam attacks. The creature teleported, and I caught my breath. "Well... I guess that's done..."

"I've never seen anything like that... Could it be?" She asked

"The evil being that's trying to destroy Gensokyo? Yeah, I was thinking that too... We should make sure everyone knows about what happened..." I suggested

"Already done!" Another voice chimed in. I turned and saw the speaker. She held a camera, and wore a white blouse and black skirt. She had short black hair, and red eyes, and she wore an armband I couldn't read.

"Uh... Hello... When did you get there?"

"Not long ago. Don't worry, I caught the part where you were winning."

"Okay then..." I turned to Utsuho. "We still need to let everyone know about this. Tell the residents at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I'll tell Reimu and everyone at Eientei."

"Sounds good, partner!" Utsuho raised a hand to high-five me. I did, and the two of us took flight in opposite directions. I made sure to get to Reimu first, as I knew she was a target. I took flight and flew to the shrine as fast as I could, and arrived with another dust cloud preceding me as I slid across the stone platform to the front door of the shrine. Reimu opened the door, and had an expression of worry, as she glanced down at my wound which was still exposed, but wasn't bleeding.

"Reimu, you should come with me. We have go to Eientei, we have a big problem."

"Okay... Why though?"

"I'll explain when we get there, we need to hurry, this is urgent!"

"Well, lets go then!" She figured out what it had to do with, and why I insisted so heavily upon her joining me. We quickly flew to Eientei, and I rushed in. As soon as she saw me, Kaguya showed an expression of regret.

"Jacob, what happened?!"

"We found it! Well, we don't know for certain, but we think we found the source of the threats!"

"Is that what gave you that wound?"

"Exactly. It's a good thing you gave me the elixir. I got shot pretty well through."

"I can tell..."

"Anyway, I brought Reimu, because it teleported away, and we don't know where it is. One thing we should think about is that Utsuho and I were either enough to fight it off, or it had other priorities at the time. We were doing quite a bit of damage at the end of the fight, so I'm not sure which it was. Reimu, can you ask Yukari if she can monitor that thing? She seems to be able to overhear some conversations. We need to know more. For all we know, we may have mere days, instead of the year we have been expecting..."

"She was awake earlier today, so that may help."

"Oh, sure, I'll get to it then."

"Thank you. Now as for here. Kaguya, I may need to train, so I was wondering if you and Eirin could help out. I might need help training from the residents of both Eientei, and the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"Why them?" She responded, confused.

"Because they were responsible for bringing me to Gensokyo, they'll help out."

"I see. Is that all?"

"Yes, it is."

"Do you need any medicine for that?" She asked, pointing at my wound."

"Not now, we have more important matters."

"Are you sure? That probably hurts..."

"It does a bit, but I'm fine."

"Okay then..." Reimu left, probably headed out to find Yukari. I wondered what was going to happen. A lot of pressure was on me. I was the only one who knew of the abomination, aside from Utsuho. Everyone else seemed to just place themselves under my command. I was to lead a tiny group to try to stop some monstrous being that we didn't even know the full power of. Kaguya then gestured for me to sit next to her. I did, and already knew what she was going to ask.

'So, can you tell me about it at all?"

"The problem is that I don't really know what to say about it. It's a bit less than three times my size, and it practically killed me in one well-placed hit through just about every vital organ I have... It was rather horrific, and it almost seemed to have rotting flesh in some spots..."

"Like a Jiang Shi?"

"What the heck is that?"

"Well. It's basically a reanimated corpse." I felt a streak of heat across my forehead.

"Wait a second, you mean to tell me that reanimated corpses actually are a thing?!"

"Yes, but they're quite rare."

"Can you explain a bit about them? I mean, is it a disease? Was the person at least dead first?"

"Usually, but Eirin told me about one she heard of where the soul was forcibly drained from the person. Her name was Yoshika Miyako." I felt my stomach turn.

"So... How can we even tell if she's actually dead or not?"

"I wouldn't know. I guess check with whoever deals with departed souls. We don't try to contact them, because they don't exactly appreciate immortality."

"Oh. That's a problem, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"I guess I'll just have to deal with that... I fought to get Utsuho out of Hell, I'll fight to make sure that Yoshika will get the life she deserves."

"You are a really good person, aren't you?"

"Well, I try."

"It's a good thing that you do so." We waited for some time. Eventually, a very familiar person entered. It was Patchouli. I felt a rush of relief, knowing that she and the others hadn't been harmed while I was away.

"We were asked to come here. Utsuho told us about what happened."

"Where is she?"

"Right here!" Utsuho cheered as she entered. Everyone else from the mansion waited outside. I walked out to greet them. Sakuya held an umbrella for Flandre and Remilia. She gestured for the two to follow her, and she walked closer to me, passed the umbrella to Koakuma to hold it, and hugged me. I took care not to get blood on her. Once she let go, she took the umbrella back,

"It's good to see all of you are alright." I spared myself the awkwardness of suggesting a group hug. Then a thought came to mind. "So... How's this going to work. All of us are going to be training together?" Nobody gave an answer. I would have cleared my throat to break the silence, but it would have been too obvious. "So... Do we have any ideas how this is going to work?" The silence continued.

"Well, honestly... Considering how Utsuho described the fight, anyone training with you could be in danger of being killed..." Patchouli explained.

"Well, that's understandable."

"Jacob, we think you may want to take a break from fighting, I mean, look at your wound..."

"Patchouli, don't worry. What's the worst that could happen to me?"

"You could die, hasn't that come across your mind?" I gave a bit of a smug grin.

"Didn't Utsuho tell you that I pretty much got gutted?"

"You're not serious..."

"I am. I pretty much can't die. Don't worry Patchouli, I know it's still dangerous, I'm just trying to lighten up the mood by joking with you. I'll still be careful, but I'm not going to let any of you be harmed in my defense when I'm incapable of dying. Anyway, I have to go, I need to discuss some things." I went inside to speak with Kaguya.

"Well, I may need to look elsewhere for training. How will that affect work for me?"

"Jacob, don't be ridiculous." She shook her head a bit as she spoke. She wasn't disappointed, as a smile was on her face.

"Huh?"

"We won't be upset if you don't show up for work, besides, you don't even have to work here. If you need any help, you can ask us. If you want, we can even house you here, you've been a good friend. It only seems fair that we return the favor."

"Well then. Thanks Kaguya, but I don't feel right to just take up residence here... I felt bad about it when I moved into the Scarlet Devil Mansion with hardly any warning, I just don't want to be a burden to anyone."

"You're almost too courteous, Jacob. You always think of others, you never think of yourself alone, do you?"

"Well, aside from taking time off for the wedding, not really, not since I entered Gensokyo, the reason I'm here is to stop evil, I did not come here for my own gain."

"Do you ever do anything for your own gain?"

"Well, of course. I got a job to better my situation... I also..."

"I didn't mean like that. Don't you ever do anything to make yourself happy?"

"I'm not used to being happy."

"Why is that?"

"Kaguya... For about the last four years, my own parents practically put me as last priority so they could pay attention to my freeloader of a cousin. I'll likely never be able to see them again anyway, and I've had to try my best to survive on my own while I was away from home before I moved to Gensokyo. It's been a long time since I've been able to focus on how I feel. I'm used to being unhappy, because I've been ignored for so long. If it didn't matter to anyone else how I felt, why did it have to matter to me? I know they didn't try to ignore me and all, but, I still just wanted them to pay attention to their biological son. It hurt being passed over for that jerk Geoff..." The pain from my wound started to return. My breath audibly hissed through my clenched teeth as I grimaced from the sudden return of the unfortunate feeling.

"Is that hurting you again?"

"Yeah... I think the adrenaline rush finally just died off... Now I just have a big hole in my stomach, and just about all of my organs really..."

"You probably should see Eirin..."

"Yeah... Probably... I'm impressed I've been able to stay awake, how much blood have I lost?"

"More than a normal human can take."

"I would guess. I don't know how I'm even breathing, really."

"Your most vital organs tend to regenerate quickly."

"That's good. At least I can still function. I'll go to the clinic now before I collapse."

"That's a good idea." I then left for the clinic. I walked in, and it only took a glance for Eirin to notice the wound.

"Oh dear, that doesn't look good." She observed.

"It doesn't feel good either. What are we supposed to do about this? I've got a five centimeter wide hole drilled through my torso, am I supposed to let it heal over on it's own? At least I won't be getting any infections from this."

"Really, it won't take long to heal, only a few days."

"Only a few days for this?"

"Indeed. The Hourai Elixir does make the user heal much faster than normal."

"That's quite convenient. Should I stay here though?"

"Yes, you may need a cast in case you broke any ribs or other bones, and they became severely disaligned. Aside from that, there isn't an incredible amount that I can do to help you, aside from giving you painkillers and letting you rest here."

"Huh... Well I guess the mindset of being in a clinic might make me heal a bit faster."

"It couldn't hurt to give it a try." After a short time, she inspected the wound, and made measurements to make a cast, as several of my ribs had been cracked by the sudden outward force of the beam shredding through me. She made sure the damaged ribs were generally in alignment, and applied the cast. I then lay down on an infirmary bed she had instructed me to. Not long after, I fell asleep.


	29. Recovery

I woke up from my deep sleep, the room empty except for me. I saw my wound had completely healed. Eirin entered the room.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. How long was I out of it?"

"Four days."

"Wow. Did you have to do anything while I was unconscious?"

"No, it was quite impressive how your body knew to stay asleep until you had healed."

"Yeah. Is it normal for me not to feel hungry or anything?"

"The Hourai Elixir also effectively eliminates the need for sustenance. You're basically self-sufficient."

"Is that all, or does it have any other effects? I'm amazed that so little of it was enough to do all of this."

"That's basically all of the effects I can think of off the top of my head."

"So... Did I miss anything while I was out?"

"The past few days have been quite uneventful."

"Good, has anyone seen anything of the monster?"

"No, it hasn't appeared since you fought it."

"That's fortunate. No need to have any chaos while I'm sleeping. I presume the others have returned to the mansion."

"They are at the Scarlet Devil Mansion at the moment, but they have visited daily. Another gentleman about your age visited as well, he said his name was Jakob."

"Oh, yeah. I know him."

"I hoped so. The residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion are going to arrive soon for today's visit."

"That's good. So, nothing at all happened? No other problems?"

"No, everything has stayed in order."

"Should I even try to stand up?"

"You've healed very well, you probably can without difficulty."

"Alright." I climbed out of bed, feeling a slight ache present in my ribs, and where my wound used to be. I managed to stay on balance. "Well. I guess I'm fixed up then."

"To put it that way, yes." I stretched my arms for the first time in nearly a week. I enjoyed being able to sleep for so long, as my family would have thrown everything they could at me to wake me up, like one time when my mother used a spray bottle to wake me up to go to school. Coincidence or not, I had to be removed from school due to illness that day. I was glad that Eirin was okay with me sleeping so long, along with everyone who visited me during my slumber, because I had just made a record for the longest time I had ever slept uninterrupted. I stared out the window, seeing the bamboo forest that surrounded Eientei. It was sunny, and midday.

"What a lovely day it is."

"We're still just at the high point of Autumn. It is quite lovely, isn't it?"

"Yeah, more than it is at my home. I'd take this view any day. You know, thinking about it, I'm better off here in Gensokyo. I don't think I need to go back to the outside world any time soon. Here, it's good to know that I matter, I never realized that much in the outside world."

"The outside world seems to have degraded a bit culturally, hasn't it."

"Well, actually, I like to think that not the whole world is like that. It was just that one party really."

"Regardless, I've seen enough of the outside world for a good while."

"I can't say I blame you."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that you were in the newspaper."

"Huh, is that so? Might I ask what for?"

"It was about your conflict with the monster."

"Huh."

"It had a picture of you in it."

"May I see the newspaper?"

"Of course." She briefly left the room, and I turned back to the window. Eirin returned shortly after, and handed me the newspaper. I saw where I was. I wasn't in a tiny side article like I was once before for that science project from seventh-grade. I was in the headline.

"Well... Finding it didn't take much effort." I noticed the picture. Taken from above at an angle, it was me fighting the monster in close quarters. I noticed the wide exit wound positioned between my shoulders. "The picture really shows my wound. The exit is nearly though my neck. I thought it would have been a bit lower. All I know is that it looks pretty bad."

"It was very brave of you to fight such a formidable creature."

"If I found it, why would I let it escape unscathed?" I replied with a smirk.

"You didn't leave the fight unscathed either unfortunately."

"Eh, acceptable damage. It's better that I get hurt than to let someone else be killed."

"I know that mindset of yours. I share it as well. Next time something seems to be wrong, you can summon either Kaguya or myself, and we'll be happy to help you."

"Thanks. Oh, and another question. If Gensokyo will collapse when Reimu dies, why don't we give her the elixir?"

"She believes immortality will corrupt her soul."

"This is an incorrect assumption, is it not?"

"Indeed it is, immortality binds the body to the soul. It prevents it from dying, as one's spirit is not able to die under normal circumstances, and the elixir prevents even those circumstances from killing one's soul."

"I imagine I'll get a philosophy lecture if I were to ask what those circumstances were."

"It would not be easy to explain."

"Then I'll just leave that where it is. Do we have any idea when the residents of the Scarlet Devil Mansion will arrive?"

"They should be arriving any moment now."

"I should probably change out of this shirt." I had been wearing it for four consecutive days, and it soaked up a lot of the blood and sweat. Same story for my pants." Luckily I had left my backpack with Kaguya, and knew where to find it. I went to retrieve it. Kaguya was still in her room. I picked up my pack.

"I see you finally woke up."

"Yeah, don't know how I slept so long. All I know is that I broke my previous record."

"I could guess that much."

"So, did anything happen while I was out of it?"

"Nothing of great importance."

"Good to know that no problems have presented themselves. I'll go change." I did as I stated, and switched out for another outfit, discarding the damaged and bloodied one. I waited for my friends to return. I then came to a realization. "I really do have a lot more friends here than I did on the outside. I don't think I have met anyone that I haven't gotten along with."

"You're just that kind of person. You're hard to fight, because you don't give anyone a reason to fight you."

"I try not to."

"That's a good thing about you. You don't seek out conflict."

"Why would I?"

"Don't worry, I'm not saying you should."

"Good, I wouldn't want you to think that way."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't be that person."

"I trust that. You've been a good friend, I know you wouldn't try to turn me into something I wouldn't want."

"I'm glad you trust me. Anyway, is there anything else you would like to discuss."

"No, I just need to get out of these clothes... Fortunately I have a bunch of outfits' worth. Anyway, I'll be going now."

"Goodbye Jacob."

"Goodbye Kaguya." I left the room, went into another, and quickly changed my clothes. I went back to the clinic to wait. I sat on the side of the hospital bed I was previously was recovering in. I waited, anticipating their arrival. Before I knew it, hours had passed, and nobody had arrived. Eirin entered after some time.

"Has nobody visited?" She asked with worry showing in her voice.

"Nope... Do you think they forgot?"

"I don't know. They said they would visit again today, I don't understand why they didn't..."

"Maybe I should go check on them tomorrow. Something might have happened. I hope you don't mind if I stay here for one more night."

"That's fine. When do you expect to leave?"

"First thing in the morning. Hopefully everything is okay... Then again, it's probably nothing. If I was in decent condition they probably could tell they didn't need to check up on me."

"Regardless, sorry that nobody showed up..."

"It's alright. Anyway, goodnight Eirin."

"Goodnight Jacob." She left the room, and I dozed off.


	30. A Nightmare of Omens

The room faded back into my vision as I suddenly awoke. Groggy from oversleeping, I climbed out of bed. I looked out into the newly lit landscape through the window near the bed. I stretched my limbs, and scanned the room to see if anybody else was there. I was again disappointed to find that I was alone. I walked out the door to check the rest of Eientei. I saw something on the floor. I crouched down to inspect it. It was a drop of freshly shed blood. There were several others nearby as well. I felt my stomach sink to my feet. "Kaguya?! Ms. Yagokoro?!"

"Jacob..." A voice weakly cried. It wasn't Ms. Yagokoro, I was sure. I ran towards the source. I to find Kaguya. She was crawling on the ground, bleeding somewhat.

"Kaguya!" I ran to her side. I rolled her onto her back and applied pressure to her wound, which was in her stomach. "Are you alright?!"

"It... It hurts... Please help me..."

"I will, don't worry, just stay calm! You'll be fine!" My tears dripped onto her shirt as I supported her with my left arm, while covering her wound with my right hand.

"Jacob... It's here..."

"What is?"

"The monster... Please, just go... Even if it takes me, you need to get out of here so that you'll be able to fight it..."

"No! Kaguya, I won't leave you here to that thing!" I sat her against the wall, and stood up, and saw the enemy not far away. I charged and grabbed it by the head with my right hand. Then, less than a second later, a flash of light ensued, and I fell down to the ground, paralyzed. Likewise the creature did the same. Kaguya struggled to make her way over to me.

"Jacob! No! You can't die! It's not possible!" My vision then faded out and I felt as if I was falling into an endless void.


	31. Celebration of Survival

"Gyah!" I yelled as I snapped up into sitting position. I blinked a few times, and returned to my senses. I was sitting in the hospital bed in Eientei again. Everyone was there in front of me. "You all just saw me do that, didn't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer, but hoping that they somehow failed to notice.

"Yes. Are you alright?" Kaguya asked, standing directly in front of me, and, much to my relief, she was in perfect health.

"Yeah... I'm fine, just had a messed up dream, that's all..."

"One could guess..."

"Kaguya, could I speak to you privately?" I requested, still thinking over her devastation at my death in the nightmare, and her willingness to put herself in danger for my sake. As well as the fact that she seemed perfectly comfortable sleeping in the same bed as me when we were at my home.

"Oh. Okay... Maybe in a little bit?"

"Yeah... That would be fine. Anyway, I'm glad to see everyone's here. I got a bit worried yesterday when nobody showed up. I was about to go check on you guys."

"Yukari wanted to talk to all of us yesterday. She thinks the monster you fought is dead." Reimu explained.

"Huh. Well that was surprisingly easy. Is she certain about this?" I asked.

"No. That doesn't mean that this success shouldn't give us all hope."

"I wouldn't say otherwise. Hope is one thing that we all need when someone threatens to destroy the world."

"That's for sure."

"So... What now?"

"Maybe you could go back to the outside world if you want to."

"Well... Uh... About that..."

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, you wouldn't mind if I didn't go back right? I ask because I don't want to go back to the outside world... I'd like to stay in Gensokyo. I have more friends in this room than I ever had before I came here."

"Well, we're happy to let you stay." Reimu assured me with a smile.

"So, how has everyone been?"

"Everyone has been well." Remilia answered.

"Good to know." I got out of bed, and stretched my arms. "Now what is there to do? If I go back to the outside world, then I'll be abandoning all of you, which I don't plan on doing. Well, I guess I should work on establishing a life here. Back in the outside, I was just a high-school teenager, and still practically have that little knowledge on how I'm supposed to do things in the real world. Then again, Gensokyo is not much like the outside, so the same rules likely wouldn't apply here."

"Probably not." Patchouli agreed.

"Well, I guess I have to learn a few things, or figure this all out for myself."

"You should be fine, besides, you're helping to stop the world from being destroyed. You've earned our help at the least." Reimu continued.

"Well, I have to say, I'm glad you all care about me, but I don't know how much of your help I can accept... I just don't want to be a burden to anyone."

"Jacob, you've only been helpful as long as you've been here. You left your family to help us. You left an entire world behind... Don't worry so much about everyone else all the time... For once, let us help you." Kaguya kept up her side of the debate.

"Thanks Kaguya... Well, I guess you guys can help me out, just don't do so to the point where you cause difficulty for yourselves, okay?"

"Don't worry Jacob, you won't cause any difficulty for us."

"I hope not. Anyway, should we celebrate or something?"

"Well, we could if you wanted."

"That would be nice, but what do people do in Gensokyo to celebrate? Sorry if that's a dumb question."

"Well, we can just have tea."

"That would work." Everyone else seemed to be okay with the idea, myself included. "Everyone agree?" The others nodded.

"So, do you want to talk now?" Kaguya switched topic.

"Oh, right. Yes, now would be fine." The two of us walked out of the room.

"So what is it?" Kaguya asked.

"It's just... I was wondering... I want to know how you feel about me..."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh... Like... How good of friends are we?"

"We're friends, yes. Why do you ask?"

"I just was wondering if you had any uh..."

"You were wondering if I liked you more than just as a friend?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering..."

"Well... I... I do like you, but... I don't know..." I was a little bit disappointed, as I personally did have some feelings for her.

"Don't worry Kaguya, it's fine. I just wanted to make sure that if you did feel differently about me, that you'd have a chance to say it."

"Oh. Well, thank you for thinking about me."

"You're welcome." With the conclusion of the short inquiry, an awkward silence followed. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?"

"Not really, should we go back to meet with the others?"

"Yeah, sure." I agreed, and we went back into the room where everyone else still was. Then Kaguya started to prepare things for the tea party. I wondered what it would be like, between the normal girly kind that would be awkward if I were spotted in, or if it were more in the type of an actual party from my world. I had only one way to find out. At least Jakob was there as well, so I wasn't exactly the only male to attend. I sat on my bed again, waiting for some sort of indication of exactly what was happening in terms of preparation. A few minutes later I fell asleep yet again I then was embarrassingly awakened again as I had that type of dream where you actually flinch from an impact that occurred in the dream, except I didn't just flinch. My brain decided to make me fly off the side of the bed, and land on my face. Fortunately the others were focused elsewhere, and I did not draw too much attention with the display that was worthy of the most intense ridicule. I climbed back to my feet, and shook off the fall. I went to meet up with the others outside. Upon going outside, I saw the sunset, and sat down on a bench. Then Patchouli stood next to the bench. I looked over, and then took in the scene. I couldn't help but be reminded of the time Patchouli and I sat together and watched the sunset on the last day of Summer break.

"Can I sit with you?" She asked.

"Of course." She sat next to me as she did back in Japan, holding a book on her lap. This time, I did one thing differently. I put my arm around her. She looked at me with a surprised expression, but it didn't take long for it to turn into a smile. "The last time I watched a sunset like this was back when we were still outside of Gensokyo. Then again, any time since that I watched the Sun go down, I was alone." Patchouli rested her head on my shoulder, and we continued to watch as the orange glow of the Sun began to fade into night.

"Hey, are you alright?" Another voice chimed in. I turned, already knowing who it was, being careful not to move my shoulder.

"Hey Jakob. Yeah, I've been fine."

"Good to know, I haven't seen you for a while."

"I know, I've been out of it. Broke my record for consecutive days sleeping."

"Wait. Did you say you slept for multiple days straight?"

"Yep, no idea how either."

"I saw you while you were in the clinic. How did you survive that? There was a hole cut completely through you."

"Long story. Drank some elixir of sorts."

"Huh. That's a different response that I was guessing."

"Indeed, I'm always outside of the box. Boxes are dumb, and boring."

"Sounds about right I suppose..."

"Boxes being boxes, you know?"

"Uh... Sure..." I got the feeling that I was starting to weird him out with my little box rant.

"So... Anything not box related to talk about?"

"Not really. I actually have to be going in a bit. I'm going to be at the Myouren Temple if you're wondering."

"Eh, what? There's a temple now?"

"I think there's a lot of places like that..." I shook my head in response to myself being utterly clueless.

"Are you alright Jacob?" Patchouli asked, still keeping her eyes closed. Had she not spoken, I would have guessed she had fallen asleep on my shoulder.

"Not any more out of order than I normally am, which is still quite a bit..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing... Nothing at all..." I then shut my eyes as the Sun was nearly finished in its descent below the horizon. A few moments passed where neither Patchouli nor myself spoke. I broke the silence again. "I've recently had some time to reflect on all that has happened to me, in such a way that left me much more fortunate than many of the others I knew from the outside world."

"What do you mean? You had to leave your home, and your family."

"That is true, but it isn't like time wasn't going to take that away from me anyways. Here in Gensokyo, I actually am somebody. I'm not just that one awkward kid sitting in the corner that nobody can understand and is utterly afraid of. That is the way I was treated for a rather long period of my life, but now that I'm here, that's all behind me."

"How does it feel to be so far from where you used to live. You didn't live in Japan before, you mentioned a place called the United States."

"That's where I used to live. I actually don't feel homesick or anything like that, not now. Probably because my parents passed me up for my cousin, but I don't like to hold a grudge or anything. Aside from my family, I never had any specific attachment to the place."

"Oh... I just figured that you would miss all that you might have had... By the sound of it though, you didn't seem to have had it too well.."

"Well, I guess you could say that, but I know a lot of people have it worse than I had."

"I couldn't imagine living outside of Gensokyo after all this time. I could have been killed on the same day we met if you hadn't intervened. What was it like to not have any of the powers you have now?"

"What is this, an interview?" I jokingly asked with a bit of a smirk.

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

"I was just kidding, don't worry Patchouli. As for your question, it was pretty much living like I do now, only that I had to be a lot more careful, but in a fight, I could probably take down a lot of the kind of people I regularly had to deal with. Remember that one kid who threw that bean at you? He practically went down by getting an apple thrown at his back. People often act tough, but rarely can they take a punch. Heck, for that matter, Jakob knocked one punk out with an umbrella! The thing about the outside world, is that as weak as you may seem, nobody is necessarily any stronger than you are. You just have to know your strengths and weaknesses, know not to stomp on the toes of a guy three times your size without good reason. Knowing that, you should be pretty much good."

"There are people three times your size?"

"That was a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe a foot or so taller? For that matter, also just don't incite conflict in general."

"How much is a foot in length again?"

"About this much" I said as I raised my two hands about a foot apart from each other, still not moving my shoulder much, as Patchouli was still leaning on it, as she seemed to be quite tired.

"If you'd have to fight someone that much taller than you... Well, that wouldn't be fun..." She replied, holding in a yawn. I couldn't help but smile at her silly remark.

"Hey, you're learning from my silly ways." I looked back up into the sky.

"Are you two going to come over here? The tea party isn't over there, we can't really move it." Kaguya suddenly blurted in from a distance. It took some effort to keep a straight face at the notion of a tea party being in any way the equivalent of a party from the outside world, where drunkenness was something that a person was almost guaranteed to encounter in the form of a rabbling maniac that was asking to be slapped with a cold fish. At least once, I was the one to deliver that fish, for it was the best tool available.

"Yeah, we'll be over in a second." I responded. Patchouli put her hat back on, and stood up. I did the same. We went to join the others. The two of us were given some tea, and then we sat with the others. Patchouli was still directly next to me, so it was practically the same, only with a bit less privacy.

"There you two are." Kaguya observed.

"Sorry for the delay."

"No worries."

"So, we didn't miss anything, did we?"

"Not really."

"Good to know. So is there anything anyone would like to talk about?"

"Well, nothing of urgency if that's what you mean. We don't have to talk about anything involving that thing you stopped."

"I wasn't really thinking about that, but okay."

"Oh. Is there anything you have on your mind, Jacob?"

"No, not really. I'm not much one for gossip."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, just kidding. I don't really have anything to say though."

"Oh, okay." For a few hours, the party continued of just the others contributing a bit to the conversation. I myself occasionally contributed, but I mostly stayed quiet. When the party was over, Patchouli talked to me alone again.

"If you want to Jacob, you can come back to the mansion."

"Well, I don't know. There's a lot of people residing there now, including myself, there's still only a few of us here at Eientei. I think it's best that I stay here for now."

"Okay, I'll see you next time."

"Goodbye Patchouli." I then went back to the bed I slept in through the previous nights, and dozed off.


	32. The Second Skirmish

"Jacob, are you awake?" A familiar voice awakened me.

"Huh? What?" I propped myself up, and saw Yukari. "Oh, hello Ms. Yakumo."

"There's a problem... The thing... It's back."

"Do we know where it is?" My fogginess was immediately forced away by the shocking, and rather unnerving news.

"Near the Moriya Shrine, we think it plans to attack there, we have moments until it arrives."

"You can use portals, right? Perhaps you should send me there to intercept it while everyone else can prepare to defend? I've fought it back once, what's another battle?"

"You've only just healed, are you sure you want to try to intercept it? We were just going to send you to the shrine to help fight it back upon arrival."

"Any time I can hold it back is time for more preparation. I'm just as strong now as I was before, and no matter what it does, I'll come out of it well enough, but if we lose to this thing, it could all easily be over, and nobody, not even myself may survive. I have to do this."

"If you insist."

"I do insist." With my approval, she opened a portal, and I prepared myself for the worst. I charged through, and immediately inspected my surroundings. I didn't see anything unusual yet. I did notice the shrine that was mentioned. It was rather high up on the mountain. I was surprised that I didn't notice that it was there during my first encounter with the creature. I looked in the opposite direction, and saw the enemy approaching. "So we meet again..." I muttered to myself. I prepared to attack. "So, let's try something new, eh?" With that, I charged an attack, and then fired. As I hoped, the attack was explosive and had a very visible effect. For a moment, I thought it was over, but that moment was shattered by a spray of bullets flying towards me. Luckily my reflexes kicked in. I didn't much expect to get into a close quarters fight again, but I still generated blades on my arms like I had before. Having once again attained full strength, I noticed the length of the blades were that of my arms again. I was not sure exactly where to take the battle from there. Seeing as my blades were much better than before, a hand-to-hand battle was a viable option, but I couldn't help but remember the creature had thrown a girl into my chest to the point where I was pretty sure my sternum was broken. Finding it better not to become a projectile myself, I decided to use bullet attacks in majority for the battle. It must have been quite a spectacle from the shrine. It was still dim outside from the breaking dawn, and the glowing bullets flew in nearly all directions. The enemy's projectiles were a bland reddish tinge, but mine were a radiant dark blue color, only further representing the clash between good and evil. After some time, both the target and I began to make use of high-powered explosive attacks, and it didn't take long for the fight to resemble a fireworks display. Only a short time into combat, the air was filled with smoke so dense that neither me nor my enemy even wasted the energy needed to take blind shots, only to give away our location to the other. For a moment, the smoke near me cleared, and I again caught sight of the Moriya Shrine. Fortunately, it was unscathed by the frantic spray of projectiles. I could make out one person out of the defenders that unnerved me. Reimu was there at the shrine. I didn't understand. I was up in the air fighting to keep the location safe, and there she was putting herself in harm's way. I hoped underneath my breath that she did not insist upon joining the fight I was already engaged in, as I was not certain if she would survive. After a few more moments, the smoke had mostly cleared, and the calm was immediately destroyed when fighting resumed. During the second fight, combat was even more intense. I could guess that the creature was in a hurry to reach the shrine, and I was masterfully executing my task of acting as wall. The combat was at a stalemate, but I had stalled the attacker for entire minutes, and still had it in me to fight for a long time on. However, even with the euphoria of success in me, I was still worried about what would happen to my friends if I failed. I resolved to not find out, and to fight until my body forbade me from doing so. Then a second wave of explosive attacks came on. This time I took advantage of the same technique I had made use of in the nuclear furnace when I disabled it. I generated a shield around myself, and the explosive shots harmlessly burst upon it, spewing their smoke and flames back towards the enemy. I smirked slightly, satisfied with my ability to block the attacker. I wasn't going to be seen as taunting, as I was completely enshrouded in smoke for a second time. Then, in a rush to keep on the pressure, I used a force wave to clear the smoke, but found that my adversary was no longer in front of me, but had navigated around me, and was headed toward the shrine. Being less bulky, I was able to gain on the target quickly. With a few seconds to spare before it was in range to pulverize my waiting friends with its brute strength, I was able to deflect the monster with a powerful kick. When I did, it flew at least ten meters to the left of the shrine and crashed into the side of the mountain. I was hovering only a few feet from my friends, and was in the same position as I was in when I delivered the blow. All of my friends stared at me in total shock. They were probably expecting me to be at least slightly weakened from my hospital stay. I myself even expected to be fighting a losing battle, and would have found success in merely delaying the attack. Now, preventing it completely did not seem too far out of reach. My next matter was predicting what the thing was going to do next. I couldn't truly tell whether or not it was still alive. A dust cloud surrounded the area of impact, and I was bracing for it to try to fire back out while it was concealed.

"Is it dead?" Utsuho asked.

"Uh... I'm not sure." I replied, not knowing any better myself. For the sake of everyone on Earth and in Gensokyo, I hoped that it was.

"What even is it?" Patchouli chimed in.

"I'm even less sure about that..." I couldn't help but wonder how we knew the thing was planning to kill Reimu. I wondered even more about what it even was, but it wasn't a time for answers, but instead for battle. Suddenly the thing flew back into the air, but it was headed off in another direction. "Where's it going? Last time it was able to teleport to retreat!"

"Perhaps you weakened it?" She guessed.

"Doesn't seem much like it!" I then took flight after the creature. Several of my friends on defense protested my doing so, but I had no time to argue. I was surprised to find that some of those who didn't disagree were following me. Utsuho, and Reimu both were following me. "Reimu, you shouldn't follow me, it's too dangerous!"

"How so?"

"Following someone as crazy as me is always dangerous!"

"I'm not just going to leave you two to fight this thing alone!"

"Reimu, it's not me it's after, it's you!"

"Jacob, it's after you too!"

"The most it can do is kill me temporarily! If you die, everything is over! I was able to keep it off well enough, don't risk yourself!" With a bit of reluctance, she slowed to a stop, and turned back to the shrine. I brushed my hair out of my eyes, and kept my focus on the target ahead.

"Do you know where it's going?" Utsuho had to ask loudly over the rushing air.

"I don't know, but it can't be planning anything friendly!"

"Do you think we'll be able to stop it this time?"

"Now that I'm at full strength, hopefully." A short silence hung until I spoke again. "You saw how intense the fighting was, right? Are you sure you're up for this?"

"If you are, then why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, for you, there's a lot more at stake. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe."

"I don't know if you need to worry about me, but thanks."

"You're welcome." We were coming up on another establishment, and it didn't take long to notice the creature was preparing to land. "Get ready! We strike now, and end this here!" I directed more energy to my blades, charging them to the point that they were crackling with energy, and extended to a length equal to my overall height. It must have looked quite terrifying as I charged with no intent other than utterly destroying the monstrosity right then, and right there. As it landed, the split second it took to do so was all we needed to catch up. I quickly performed a spinning attack, splitting the creature into two halves. Without even stopping, I navigated through a backward loop, and by that time, it had re-joined itself. I sprayed bullets down, while Utsuho did the same. Continuing with my momentum, I landed directly in front of the creature. I shortened my blades so they wouldn't cut into the ground, but they still violently crackled. I jumped and quickly did a backflip with my blades extended forward, severing off the arms of the creature, as well as cutting deep into the rest of its body. While I was above it, it rapidly dashed underneath me, and I turned to see it run into a magic shield. I noticed Jakob was standing nearby, and was the one generating it. The three of us fired at the target, causing it to teleport back to wherever it had come from yet again. "No! We had it!" I couldn't help but yell in frustration. I quickly scanned about, and saw something that wasn't the target. It was a graveyard in the distance, but that was not what caught my attention. What had was the lone figure I could make out standing in the midst of the gravestones. I retracted my blades fully, and flew towards the silhouette. Utsuho flew back to regroup with the others. As I got closer, I could indeed tell that I had seen a person. I noticed more about them as I grew close, and then it hit me who it may have been when I saw her arms extended forward. "Yoshika Miyako...?" With an amount of effort that seemed rather excessive to turn, she managed to face me, unable to turn her head independently.

"Who are you...?" She asked in a dull and lifeless tone.

"My name is Jacob Kenneth..." I noticed Reimu land behind me, causing Yoshika to back away slightly. "I thought I warned you not to come. Well, since you're here, I think I could use your help... How do we restore her?"

"You wish to restore me...?"

"Yes... I was told that your soul was drained from your body... Do you still possess it?"

"Not most of it... The rest of it is trapped in some kind of gem... I don't remember where my mistress hid it..."

"Actually..." Reimu chimed in. "I uh... I found a crystal the last time I fought Seiga, not long before you showed up, Jacob... I thought it was a good luck charm, so I kept it." She then took a string that was hung around her neck.

"I'm sorry... I may attack you against my will... I am still under her control... She won't want you to restore me."

"That's okay. Are you referring to the same person Reimu had just mentioned?"

"Yes... I'm sorry, but I can't control myself..."

"Don't worry, that's fine." I assured her. I then approached her, and her seemingly lifeless eyes gained a red glow and she slowly moved as to attack me. I noticed her arms were still rigid, and so to try to use the crystal to restore her, I got too close for her arms to reach me. I noticed she was about to bite my shoulder, and in an attempt to at least prevent the full extent of the pain from being felt, I surged the targeted area with energy. To my surprise, when I expected pain, I felt nothing, and noticed her teeth were incapable of penetrating my skin. I quickly wrapped my arms around her, and held the crystal to her back. Slowly, she began to lose balance, and eventually, her body became limp, and lost its rigidity. Something that looked like a paper was attached to her forehead. I grabbed it, but I wasn't able to pull it off without hurting her. I had inferred that it may have had some role in controlling her, due to the writing on it, which I couldn't read. With the paper still in my grip, I flooded it with energy, incinerating it instantly. As Yoshika fell, I supported her in my arms, and started to notice her change. Her sickly pale complexion was becoming fair, and her stiffness was completely gone. She started to breathe normally, and eventually opened her eyes, which showed life. I could tell she was still weak, because she tried stand on her own, but stumbled, leaving it to me to catch her.

"You... You did it... I'm free... Thank you so much..." Tears started to leak from her eyes. She pulled herself close and hugged me. "I'm alive again... Thank you..."

"You're welcome."

"We shouldn't stay here... If Seiga finds us, she may try to kill us..."

"I won't let her do that. Reimu, let's go meet with the others, our work here is done."

"Wait, what is to happen with me?" Yoshika nervously asked. "I... I don't know what to do now."

"I'll have a good friend of mine check on you. You'll be well taken care of."

"Oh. Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. You won't mind me bringing you with me, will you?"

"No, anywhere else is safer than here."

"Good point, let's go." With that, I lifted her up, and carried her similar to how I carried Sakuya when I rescued her. Then, Reimu and I flew to meet with the others. I felt relieved, as I had completed two objectives. I had protected Reimu, and restored Yoshika, both of which made me feel proud of myself. Upon landing at the Moriya Shrine, I noticed that everyone had backed away from me.

"Why did you bring her here?! She's a Jiang Shi if I'm not mistaken!" A girl dressed somewhat similarly to Reimu outburst.

"You are mistaken. I'm not a Jiang Shi anymore." Yoshika stood up on her own. She walked forward a few steps. "I'm glad to meet all of you in person now."

"Step back now!" The other girl continued to overreact.

"What is it?! What did I do?!" Suddenly, she fired at Yoshika. I dashed forward and swatted the bullets away into the air.

"What do you think you're doing?! She's a normal person, she may not even have any magical abilities! How dare you try to harm her when she intends to befriend you!" I outburst. "I know what she was before, yes, but I ended that! She is no threat to you or anyone else! If you distrust her, you're distrusting me! If you wish to harm her, you must first harm me!" Sweat formed on my brow and I could feel stress overtaking the wave of relief brought by my accomplishments. "I gave her life back to her after however long of a time! I'm not letting you take it away!" I continued, barely maintaining what little remained of my composure. I breathed deeply, calming myself down a bit. "I do not wish to fight you, but I will if I have to." I turned my head, and noticed that Yoshika was hiding behind me. She was in tears, and all I wanted to do was comfort her, but I wasn't willing to turn my back on whoever the person was who just fired at her.

"Jeez, calm down, I was just making sure..."

"Okay, just do so in a less aggressive manner next time, that way nobody will be in harm's way..."

"Fine..." She backed off. Then the situation returned to normal. Everyone began to chat in a calm and civilized manner, unlike people in the outside world.

"Thank you for protecting me..." Yoshika timidly spoke. I turned to speak to her. "What's your name again?"

"My name is Jacob Kenneth."

"Oh. I'm Yoshika Miyako. You do know that right? My memory still isn't too good yet..."

"I know your name, don't worry. Anyway, shall I introduce you to my friend Eirin Yagokoro? She's a medical specialist, and I think she should check on you just to make sure that your time as a Jiang Shi isn't going to leave any problematic after-effects."

"Okay, if you think that's best."

"It probably is." I found Kaguya nearby, but I wasn't able to see Eirin in the crowd. "Kaguya, where's Eirin at?"

"She went home to manage the clinic." She answered.

"Oh, alright. Yoshika, you do know how to fly, right?"

"Well, yes. I did, but I don't know if it transfers from being a Jiang Shi to being normal." Yoshika replied in an uncertain tone.

"Want to give it a try?"

"Okay..." After a few seconds, she was hovering.

"Alright. Follow me, okay?"

"Lead the way." I then flew with her to Eientei. The two of us went into the clinic Eirin was there, and upon seeing us, her eyes widened.

"Oh dear. You actually did it." She remembered my desire to free Yoshika.

"Indeed I did. I would like for you to give Yoshika a quick checkup if that's at all possible."

"Of course. Right this way, Ms. Miyako." Yoshika then followed Eirin into the same room I recovered in when I was admitted several times before. After some time, Yoshika began crying. Eirin walked out of the room to meet me.

"Why's she crying?"

"Well, it turns out she's incapable of aging due to an enchantment her mistress put on her. She's crying because she thinks she's going to outlive you."

"Did you tell her that I also can't age?"

"I thought it would be better coming from you."

"Good point." I walked in and sat next to Yoshika. I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's just not fair..."

"What's not fair? Aren't you glad to be yourself again?"

"It's not that... I've already been alive so long, and... You're so young, but I'll still outlive you..."

"Yoshika, don't worry about that." I leaned forward so she could see me in her peripheral vision. "I may still be young, but trust me when I say that it'll take a lot more than just a century to see me to my end."

"What do you mean? You're just a human, aren't you?"

"Pretty much, but certain events have transpired during the time I've been in Gensokyo. A result of these would be the fact that I no longer am able to die by any means. You weren't there to see it, but I literally had a hole blown clear through me from my stomach to my upper back, and I'm still here."

"Oh... Could I ask what all has happened since you came here?"

"Well, I guess I can summarize what all has happened involving myself. First, I met Patchouli Knowledge, one of my friends who's probably still at the shrine now. She brought me here to Gensokyo. After that, I met two others, Reimu Hakurei, and for a moment, Yukari Yakumo. They took me to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and then I underwent a bit of training. A little bit after, I got a job here at Eientei. During the time I worked here, I went to the Underworld along with Jakob Wolfgang, a classmate of mine from the outside world, and we brought Utsuho Reiuji to the surface. A little later, I brought Eirin Yagokoro and Kaguya Houraisan with me to my jerk cousin's wedding. Since then, I ended up fighting some monster thing after I drank some medicine that made it so I won't die. Just a few moments ago, before I restored you, I was in a second fight with the creature." Suddenly, Eirin came back into the room. "Sorry if you don't know everyone I mentioned, but I'm sure you'll become acquainted with them all in due time." Then I stood up to address Eirin.


	33. Surprise Repercussions

"Is something the matter?" I asked, confused at the sudden interruption.

"Utsuho is here to see you again." Eirin explained.

"Sorry, Yoshika. I should get going, something bad could be happening." Once I thought of it, I did have an intuitive bad feeling, as I always did just before something went wrong. I walked out the door. "Utsuho, please tell me that nothing bad is happening."

"Should I still tell you if something is?"

"Ugh... Go ahead..." I knew I was going to be in a world of hurt soon. If it had to do with Seiga, I was going to either have harsh words, or bullets thrown at me. I couldn't help but feel that what Yoshika said was true, and that if Seiga did find us, she would try to kill us.

"Well, someone's kind of going on a rampage as I took it. Reimu sent me."

"Okay, Yukari, can you hear me?" As I expected, she emerged from a portal.

"Yes, yes. So, back to the shrine?"

"Indeed."

"Right this way." She went back through the portal, leaving it open. I went through as well.

"Jacob, we have to hurry, Seiga's gone mad!" Reimu rushed over to me. I scanned the area, and saw something in the distance that made me want to vomit. Pillars of smoke rose into the sky. I couldn't tell what was on fire, but a practical inferno was needed to send up enough smoke to be seen from the distance we were at.

"If that isn't what you're talking about, then it can wait!" I flew as fast as I could toward the source of the smoke. I hovered some distance above the ground. The formerly dense foliage below was in flames, and I could hardly see anything. I checked the area, unsure whether or not anyone was in the area initially, or if they had survived. I eventually did see someone. Reimu had followed me. "What's going on here? Is anyone hurt?" I asked Reimu, unsure of what had happened to set the ground ablaze.

"I don't know, that's why I brought you here." She replied.

"Okay, this smoke is too much!" I sent out another force wave, effectively smothering all the flame within several meters of myself. I finally had the chance to hyperventilate like I was about to upon seeing what I had indirectly caused. "Is anyone there?!" I heard a faint coughing somewhere in the smoke. I ran in, not caring how much I inhaled. My eyes watered from the immense irritation of the blaze. I found someone that I had not previously met. I couldn't tell anything about her, other than the fact that she was in need of immediate evacuation from the area. I lifted her up, and sprinted through the flames again, generating a small shield in front of myself to avoid catching her on fire, as that would definitely not be doing her any good. Once I was out of the burning area, I set her on the ground, and fell down. I was weak from inhaling too much smoke. I crawled away a short distance, and vomited, out of disgust with the amount of inhumanity visible in the action of whoever it was who was willing to leave an innocent person to be burned alive. She was still awake, but was too weak for much of anything. She didn't even speak, and I couldn't blame her. I stood up, slowly regaining strength. I charged my energy as much as I could, and noticed it was helping me recover. I looked over, and saw that the girl I just saved was still barely awake. Telling by how much smoke was in the air, regardless of the fact she was no longer there, her death was not out of the question. I lifted her up again, and started transferring my own energy to her, hoping it would have the same effect. I wasn't disappointed, but I came to another realization. My energy was even lower than it was when I was hospitalized by the monster. If whoever started the flames was still in the area, I would be fighting with very little of my maximum strength. I heard footsteps behind me, and I immediately turned, but was not ready to fight. I was relieved to see Reimu. "Okay, good. It's just you..." She just stared in complete shock. "Who is this? She isn't whoever is trying to kill me, right? I don't want to have shot myself in the foot being too nice." I took a moment to look back at the one I was carrying. I could finally tell details about her. She had short green hair, and wore a white shirt with a red plaid skirt, and a matching vest. Her eyes were also red.

"No. If anyone, Seiga would be trying to kill you. Her name is Yuuka Kazami." Reimu explained, pointing at the one I was carrying.

"I'm awake, just letting you know..." Yuuka finally spoke. "You don't have to carry me..." I set her down on her feet. She turned to see the burning field. "Oh... They're all burning... It may take some time for them to grow back, but at least I'm alive to make sure that they do. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Isn't it beautiful?" A new voice suddenly asked from behind us. "I made those ugly sunflowers into a wonderful light show, didn't I? Don't worry, you'll be like them soon enough." I turned around, and saw who it was. It didn't take long for me to assume it was Seiga. She had blue hair, and blue clothes of a lighter shade. The way she was smirking at us was rather unnerving. I backed up to stand in front of Yuuka and Reimu. It only took a short time for me to notice something. It was not Seiga, it couldn't have been, unless she had some kind of horrid mutation, as I noticed a small patch of discolored and swollen flesh on their arm. I could sense it was the monster, somehow managing to disguise itself. I quickly sprinted forward, and managed to grab onto the creature. I forced my palm onto their forehead, and started to try to drain energy so I could generate a blade to drill through its head. When I started draining energy, time seemed to slow to a near stop. I could tell, that what just spoke was definitely the creature. I was able to psychologically infiltrate the target's mind. It didn't take long for me to realize that one thing I could do, was to target and attack parts of their mind. I targeted its ability to disguise, and disabled it, even if only temporarily. By the time it was finished, the link collapsed, and time went back to normal. The creature started to show its true form.

"Jacob, what did you do?!" Reimu asked.

"I broke into its brain!" I then carried out the plan I originally had when I pressed my palm to the creature's forehead. I drained more energy, this time intending not to attack the brain from within, but externally. I charged a blade, that rapidly extended through the target's head. I then fired a beam through my hand, completely decapitating the creature. It fully returned to its normal form, seemingly dead. Unfortunately, like before, it began to regenerate.

"The end will come..." It uttered in a voice befitting of its monstrous body. It again teleported away. A short silence fell upon us.

"How the heck did you do that? Since when can you read minds?" Reimu asked.

"I don't know." I explained.

"Only one person I know is capable of doing that. Did Satori teach you to read minds somehow?"

"No, but wait a second. Time seemed to be slowed down when I read its mind. Is anyone capable of manipulating time?"

"Sakuya is capable of doing that."

"Hang on, I've had contact with both of said people, perhaps I'm innately absorbing abilities... The thing is one activating must have subconsciously activated the other, maybe that's a thing?"

"That could actually be the case... The monster was able to disguise, which was also an ability possessed by someone else from Gensokyo, as well as the manipulation of fire, which it also used."

"Oh, perfect, it can do the same thing..."

"Well, you were able to stop the creature well enough, I know you'll defeat it."

"I have to ask." Yuuka spoke again. "Aren't humans supposed to be afraid of youkai?"

"Sorry, I'm not familiar with the term youkai..." I replied.

"Well, she's not a human." Reimu explained. "In fact, neither are a lot of the people you've been interacting with so far."

"Huh. I guess I could see that with Utsuho, as well as Remilia and Flandre, but aside from them, I couldn't really tell."

"I don't understand. When humans are actually supposed to fear youkai, some don't and others will even go out of their way to be kind to them. Why did you save me, honestly?"

"I thought that Seiga was accusing you of restoring her Jiang Shi named Yoshika. I was the one who restored her, and I wasn't going to let you die because of my actions." I told her

"That wasn't her though."

"No, it wasn't. That doesn't mean that just because I wasn't related to it, I was going to let you die. What kind of person would I be to leave you to burn?"

"I suppose you have a point. Not that I don't appreciate it, I just don't understand humans like you."

"To your credit, nobody can understand me. I'm just weird."

"Yeah, I'm just going to go now." Reimu informed us as she went to rejoin the others.

"What was that, a few sentences ago?" A voice from only a few moments ago spoke. It was Seiga, and that time it was the real one. "Did you say you're the one who restored Yoshika?"

"Yes I did." I was sometimes honest at times when it wasn't exactly ideal. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Yes, it very well may be. Now, give me the gem that had her soul stored in it."

"Oh, you mean this one?" I drew the gem from my pocket.

"Yes, now give it here, and you can walk away just fine." I crushed the gem in my hand.

"I would much rather risk harm to myself than to let you take any more from Yoshika than you already have!"

"Bad choice." She then fired a beam at Yuuka. She went down, but the beam did not do much damage. Seiga prepared to fire another beam to kill her, but I jumped in the way. I used my energy blades to block the beam, but immediately after doing so, they dissipated. I still had very little energy, and defeat seemed almost certain for me. Then, suddenly, everything grew dark. I was trembling in fury, and my breathing had deepened to a near growling sound. My teeth showed like those of a snarling animal. My eyelids twitched. If looks could have killed, Seiga would have been no more, as my appearance was not that of an awkward teenage boy, but rather like that of a madman. Then, a storm formed above, and lightning struck all around. The angrier I grew, the more expressed my hatred was, the more violently electricity flew through the air. It truly was ironic, for I had the least energy in me that I had for a long time, yet I was in control of more power than I had imagined myself capable of handling. Several bolts struck me directly, and my strength instantly recovered, possessing my maximum amount of power.

"Bad choice!" I yelled back. I backed to the point where I was standing next to Yuuka, and fired bullets in all directions except downward. The bullets had gaps in between them, which resulted in them not hitting Yuuka. The bullets shot in a more organized, patterned attack than any attack I had previously used. Lightning bolts shot away from myself, one hitting Seiga. The single hit was enough to knock her down. The attack ceased, and I walked over to her. I generated blades, in case she tried to fight again.

"Please don't kill me..." Tears started to roll down her face. I felt that she had learned her lesson well enough. I knew it wasn't necessary to kill her, a

"You attacked my friend, had the intent of murdering me, and stole the soul of an innocent girl. I find it difficult to see a reason to forgive you."

"Please, no..."

"Despite that, I still can't drive myself to kill you without first giving you a chance to change for the better." I dissipated the blades, and backed off a few steps. "Make no further attempts to reclaim Yoshika, and don't let me catch you harming innocent people."

"I won't! Thank you!" She immediately fled. I felt proud of myself. I had done the honorable thing, and I truly hoped that Seiga would change her ways and become a better person. I shook my head, wishing it hadn't required violence to resolve the issue with Yoshika.


	34. The Ruined Day

Yuuka stood back up, having some difficulty doing so. She walked a bit closer to me.

"That's the second time you saved me... I don't know if I'll ever be able to understand you..." She then hugged me. "Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it just means you're special. However it works, I like whatever type you are better." She complemented me.

"Why thank you, but why am I supposed to be afraid of you exactly? I'm curious." I wondered aloud, not sure how she would be seen as intimidating. She seemed perfectly friendly.

"Oh, it's just that most humans consider youkai like myself to be monsters, myself included..."

"Huh? You look too friendly to be called a monster by anyone. When I hear monster, I envision an organic lump, like that one thing that burned the place down. I can't see that as you." Then the others arrived nearby. Reimu was leading them.

"What the heck was that?! Are you okay?!" Reimu asked confused.

"Yeah. The real Seiga came by, and something happened to me. Well, I pretty much suffered a miniature nervous breakdown, but I'm perfectly fine now." I explained.

"A nervous breakdown probably shouldn't do that!"

"Reimu, I believe he may have created an attack that he could use as a spellcard." Patchouli explained.

"Huh?" My cluelessness again got to me.

"One thing people can do with magic, is a spellcard. A spellcard is a caster specific attack. How it basically works is that you use it, and that attack is the only one you can fight with for the duration of the spellcard, but the attack generally is very powerful." She clarified.

"Well that explains how I took Seiga down in a single hit."

"What happened to her anyway?" Reimu asked.

"I let her go. She left a little bit before you got here."

"Anyway, the spellcard you just used isn't truly in its completed form. You simply have the memory of it, almost like a design for it. If you come with me to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, I can get you a spellcard to transfer it to." Patchouli continued.

"Okay, let's do that later."

"You also can make other ones by imagining concepts for the spellcard, but those should be tested more to make sure they work. That one you just demonstrated to be effective."

"Alright." I noticed that Kaguya appeared to be slightly disappointed. "I guess we should go back up to the shrine, and maybe head back out. I think the day is pretty much done for fighting."

"Alright, let's go everyone, you're welcome to join us Yuuka." Reimu spoke up, and led the others back. Before Kaguya went along, I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to see me.

"Oh. Hello Jacob. Shouldn't we join the others?"

"In a moment, but I need to talk to you first."

"Okay."

"You looked kind of upset when I said I was going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Why?"

"Well... It's just... Well..." She wrung her hands nervously. "Okay... Jacob... Do you remember when you asked how I felt about you last night?"

"Yes."

"I wasn't entirely true with my answer... I really do know how I feel about you..." She grabbed my hands with hers. "Jacob... I do love you... The reason I was upset was that I didn't want you to leave..." I was surprised, but I was glad that she did feel that way about me, as I had cared deeply about her for some time, ever since Geoff's wedding.

"Don't worry Kaguya, I won't leave you..." She smiled, and I got yet another hug. "Should we go meet with the others now?"

"Okay."

"So, I'll be heading to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, but I'll probably be back at Eientei by the end of the day."

"I look forward to seeing you later."

"As I do for you."

"Oh, and... You do love me too, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well..." She blushed a little bit. "I guess we have all of eternity to be together. Let's be on our way."

"Alright." The two of us flew back to the shrine to meet with the others. When we landed, I looked back to where the fight had just taken place. Dense clouds still hung above the scene. "Wow. I really lost it didn't I?"

"I don't know." Kaguya replied, not having been a witness to my brief descent into madness.

"Heck, I've always been quite hotheaded... I still need to work on that a bit." I looked back at Kaguya, as I felt I may have scared her with that comment. "Only towards my enemies of course." I remembered back at school when I had started the food fight, and how I had yelled at whoever it was that threatened Yoshika, and then again how my anger practically powered the attack that I fought Seiga back with. At least some of my other feelings were just as powerful as rage. In situations, compassion was one that was a very strong emotion for me. It was the reason I wanted to restore Yoshika, and the reason I didn't kill Seiga. It also drove me to save Yuuka from the fire, and was the reason I rescued Utsuho. I was hoping to start getting more easily influenced by my positive emotions, and less easily influenced by the negative ones. One thing that I knew was that I was going to have to basically suppress any negative emotions near Kaguya, because I really did not want to end up frightening her. Luckily, near her, I had a difficult time experiencing those emotions. Patchouli walked over to us.

"Jacob, if you'd like, we can get your spellcard made now."

"Alright. To the mansion?"

"Yes." I followed her back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and we went into the library. I stood and looked around, remembering the first time I ever was in the library. Patchouli came back, holding a blank slip of paper in her hand. She handed it to me.

"What is this?"

"A spellcard. Just transfer the memory of the attack to the card, and it'll be ready for use."

"Okay." Again, like most things with magic, it was a spontaneous function, no second thought required. Writing started to appear on the card. I raised an eyebrow, unsure what it was going to say when it was done. I gave it to Patchouli.

"It definitely was connected to your emotions at the time. The circumstances of use are unlike those of any spellcard I've seen before."

"How is that?"

"This spellcard, in order to be used, literally requires you to be angry. Furious even."

"That's probably not too good is it?"

"Well, I've seen you get angry a good few times. It could actually be to your advantage."

"Perhaps, but I've been trying to reduce my stress, which includes keeping myself from getting angry, but I guess for the sake of Gensokyo, I can afford to let myself lose control."

"Anyway, if we're done here, I'll be going."

"That's all. Oh, and you can conjure blank spellcards, but it sometimes can be difficult and take multiple tries, so you may want to make a few blanks once you get back to Eientei."

"That's a good idea. Anyway, I'll get going. Thanks Patchouli."

"You're welcome." I went back outside, and returned to the Moriya Shrine. When I arrived, Kaguya walked back over to me.

"Should we go back home now? I don't think anything else needs to be done here." Kaguya asked.

"I agree. That's probably it for today." The two of us went to Eientei. We again flew over the bamboo forest. By that time, there wasn't a chance that I'd be unable to spot Eientei from above, as I had become very used to doing so whenever I returned. We landed, and suddenly, I felt unstable. I couldn't help but remember everything that had changed in my life from being an unimportant teenage high-schooler, to being the hope of saving the world. Being such came with both honor, and the burden of having such a weight on my shoulders. I remembered when I dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but instead, all the work I had done for the pursuit of that career was interrupted, and I was to become more important that I had ever truly hoped to be. Despite that, I doubted that anyone in the outside world would even know of what was happening in Gensokyo, much less would they know that I was working to prevent the destruction of two worlds at once. Unfortunately, the thoughts went through my head too quickly. I fell to my hands and knees, suffering a nervous breakdown.

"Jacob, what's wrong?!"

"It... It's nothing... I'm fine..." I couldn't answer honestly, because I didn't want her to worry about me. It almost hurt to see that I was having to shut myself in once more, even when dealing with the one who just confessed of her love to me. I tried to climb up to my feet, but fell down again, and my arms gave out.

"Jacob, I know something is wrong. Please just tell me. I want to help you."

"It's... Too much... It all is falling to me... What if I mess up? Everyone will be dead because of me..."

"Jacob..." She pulled me close, I stood limply, hardly able to support myself. "We all have faith in you. You don't have to go through this alone. Jacob, what about me? I have faith in you. I'm here for you." I started to recover. I began to regain my strength. I stood on my own.

"Thank you Kaguya... I needed that..."

"You're welcome Jacob." With how she handled the situation, I knew that I could be more open about how I felt. "So, shall we go inside now?"

"Yeah, I need to lay down..."

"I won't tell you otherwise." We went inside, and my process of going to lay down really involved me taking a four hour long nap on the floor.

* * *

When I woke up, it was a little bit past noon by my guess. I felt refreshed, and it didn't take long for Kaguya to notice. "Oh, you're awake. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah... Have you been watching me this entire time? I wasn't flailing about, was I?"

"Well, I was just making sure you were recovering alright, and no, you didn't flail, but you didn't have to sleep on the floor like that..."

"It's colder down here, I was overheating..."

"If you say so..."

"I didn't miss anything important, right?"

"No, you don't tend to. Shall I get some tea ready?"

"Oh, that would be nice. Thanks."

"You're welcome." She walked out of the room. I got up, and looked at my reflection in a window.

"Sheesh... I'm starting to look like a caveman..."

"I'm sorry, did you need me?" Kaguya appeared again.

"Don't worry, I was just mumbling to myself. I never thought I'd hear myself saying I need a haircut."

"Why is that?"

"I normally like my hair longer. This is starting to get kind of ridiculous though."

"Hm... I guess I could try to give you a haircut."

"It'd probably look better that way than it would if I cut it myself, thanks again Kaguya, but you don't need to worry about that right now."

"Okay, later tonight maybe?"

"Sure, if you want to."

"I've kind of been wanting to say something about it..."

"I can't blame you. Yeah, that's probably something to get out of the way later."

"Okay, I'll get back to the tea now."

"Alright." I then stared out through the window, past my reflection." I guessed it was the later half of Autumn, but regardless, we had no idea when the creature was going to try to kill Reimu and end the world. For that matter, we didn't even know if it originally even planned to attack at the time that was specified in the past. I had pretty much given up on trying to figure out what it was, or where it came from, all I knew was that it needed to be stopped. Kaguya walked back into the room a few moments later. She had a kettle of tea, and some cups. She placed them on the table. The tables still didn't have chairs, so we sat on our knees, like we did the evening when we had tea before we went to the outside world. This time, instead of across the table from each other, we sat next to each other. We both faced each other.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. My mind is pretty much blank at the moment."

"Oh. Well, if you don't mind, I have a few things I kind of would like to say."

"Go ahead." I insisted. She took a sip of her tea.

"Since we are together now, I was wondering what your social system is like."

"Are you worried that because you're a woman, I will treat you as an object? If that is the case, I am pleased to inform you that the aforementioned system of views was discarded before I was even born."

"Oh, good."

"Nonetheless, I'm still not going to treat you recklessly. Also, if Eientei were to come under attack, I believe it's my responsibility to defend it to the best of my ability before leaving the fight to you and Eirin."

"You had that selfless mindset already."

"True. Perhaps it will be more evident now?"

"Perhaps."

"If you can't tell, I'm still pretty new to this whole relationship thing."

"It's okay, I am too... Back when I lived in the outside world, many men sought out my hand in marriage, but I knew why they really always did. I was a lunarian princess, yes, but they didn't know that. They just thought I was very beautiful. I knew none were truly so interested in me. I started to tell them I would only accept their requests for marriage if they brought me five certain relics. I already had possession of them, so it was just a way of getting them to leave me alone, but they still didn't stop. You're different. I knew that if I ever married one of them, they'd probably start treating me unfairly, like they sometimes treated women in their social system. Gensokyo was relatively new when I moved in. Before it had formed, I could use magic freely, and I noticed after its formation, my power steadily began to decline. As well as that, some lunarian emissaries were trying to bring me back to the Moon, which was ironic, as I was exiled to Earth in the first place. I was afraid that without my power, I wouldn't be able to protect myself if someone were to attempt to abduct me, which a few had been crazy enough to try in the past. The reason I love you is that you're completely different. Some of them may have been crazy enough to kidnap me just to force me to marry them, just for my looks, and then to be treated unfairly until I outlived them. Then here you are, actually listening to what I have to say, and unlike them who would disregard what I wanted and just put themselves first by kidnapping me, you risked your life protecting me from that one man in the outside world, even when you were mortal. He could have killed you if he had a weapon, but you were willing to run that risk for me. You're not here just for my looks either. I even came to you to tell you I was in love with you. You were patient with me, you did ask, but you weren't at all pushy about it. You're different from them because you care about me. You only want the best for me. I love you for that." I was surprised by her story. I felt warm inside, as I obviously was important to her. I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"How long have you felt this way about me?"

"I've felt this way since you protected me from that one person in the outside world. While you were unconscious for those four days, I would often visit you when you were alone. I was hoping you would wake up, so I could tell you how I felt, because I was embarrassed to tell you in front of the others... When you asked me how I felt, I was so surprised, I really didn't know how to react. I didn't want to disappoint you, but I didn't know if you felt the same way, and I got nervous..."

"What matters now though is that we do feel the same way, and we're here now."

"Yes, and I'm glad that things worked out this way."

"So am I." I took a sip of my tea. "It's good to know that you appreciate what I've done with myself."

"What do you mean?"

"Kaguya, I wasn't always the way I am now." I set my cup down on the table, and sighed, as I knew I had to tell her about the darkest part of my life. "In the past, I was practically a different person... I have a form of what is called autism. The specific name for the type I have is Asperger's Syndrome. It's a disorder I've always had to live with. What this means about me, is that I'm very socially awkward, more so than normal people are. I have a hard time interacting with people is basically what that means. For a long time, I had a very hard time dealing with that. I'd often get made fun of for it. The only reason the bullying ever stopped, was the other part of my mental health. I'm practically bipolar. I can be happy one moment, and be attacking someone through blinding rage the next. I've always been unpredictable, unstable. It's taken me my whole life to learn how to deal with it. I've only been this way for a relatively short time. Before I became the me you know and love, I was antisocial, hostile, and very unstable. Now I've learned how to live normally, for the most part. One thing I gained from my condition however, is my intelligence. I'm smarter than most people my age, and learn faster, though sometimes my actions don't convey that part of me. Overall, until recent times, I haven't had too fun of a life, but I know some have had it worse, so I resolved to push on regardless, knowing I'd come out stronger than ever. Meanwhile, I've done my best to try to help those with my same problem, and have proven to be a good ally to those who were willing to get to know me, and an intimidating foe to those whose insolence brought them to my hatred. Since I have arrived in Gensokyo, I've found mostly everyone to be far more hospitable than those in the outside world. Here, friendship and peace are of value. Harmony is a thing to be cherished. In the outside world, some people attempt to belittle those they see inferior to raise their own status in the eyes of the equally parasitic cowards that tell them they're doing nothing wrong. It is practically a social equivalent of the concept of natural selection. I may look like I'm pretty skinny, but when enraged, I can become rather terrifying. I did however use those people as an outlet for my rage usually, where the venting points were my fists. Knowing that, you can guess which system works better, and which I have come to accept and adopt into my own way of viewing the world around me."

"I... I didn't know that was how your life was in the outside world... I'm really glad that I can be a part of your new life, where you can put all that behind you."

"I am glad that I get to be a part of your life now as well." I looked out the window, and saw the bamboo forest. I always thought I would end up living in a small house near a deciduous forest, like I did in my childhood. I never really expected to live in the bamboo forest that reality had led me to take residence in. All that mattered though, was that I was with who I wanted to be with. For me, the bamboo forest was a familiar, and rather welcoming place.

"So, you've yet to meet our other two colleagues?"

"Hm?"

"Tewi Inaba, and Reisen Inaba, they live in the forest as well, but for some reason, recently they haven't been coming to Eientei much."

"They're okay, right?"

"Yes, they were here not long ago too."

"Do they have an aversion to strangers, or just me for that matter?"

"Perhaps. I hope they don't feel as if you're a threat to them, you're anything but a threat."

"I wonder why they'd be nervous about me... It's probably that I'm a new face that they don't know how to get used to. I've never seen anyone else here as a resident aside from you and Eirin. Now I've got to wonder if it's my appearance that's making them uneasy..." I ran a hand through my hair, checking its length again.

"You are going to let me cut that, right?"

"Of course. I'm not too big of a fan of this look either." Since I was thinking about it, I was even more bothered by my stubble, as the last time I had shaved was a day before Geoff's wedding. "This may be a silly question, but do you have a razor for shaving? Since you and Eirin don't really have to shave, I'm just wondering, because I'm not too fond of this stubble I have going."

"Oh, don't worry. We have some of those just in case."

"Yeah, I thought it was a silly question."

"Although, if you'd prefer to wax it instead..."

"Actually, I'm not really a person for wax. Any kind of thing I have to put on my face that has the consistency of lotion just bothers me. Not to mention that, not to sound like a baby, but I hear that waxing is a heck of a lot more painful."

"I was just joking. I don't even know how we would go about trying to wax facial hair." She smiled about me thinking she was serious.

"Oh. Okay." I drifted off into thought about what I was going to have to plan ahead for, which was a lot. "Also, I feel like I should ask. Is there any way to cancel the effects of the Hourai Elixir?"

"Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

"The night where everyone joined us for that tea party. You know how I woke up from a nightmare?"

"Yes, that was disturbing. I've never seen you express fear like that..."

"Probably not. The reason I ask was, the Hourai Elixir seemed to have stopped working. I ended up dying in that nightmare."

"Oh my..."

"I also should give that nightmare credit for prompting me to ask you how you felt about me."

"Why is that?"

"Two reasons, the first being that I came to think it was still possible that I could die. The second was that you were utterly devastated when I died, so I thought you loved me. Coincidence or not, it turned out to be that way, and I'm quite glad about it."

"So am I. Maybe the elixir not working was just your imagination..."

"That's what I hope. I'm already trying to process all the things I'm going to want to start planning ahead for."

"What kind of things?"

"I mean, just, everything. Since it's been some time since you've seen the outside world, you're probably not worried about everything I'm worrying about."

"What do you mean."

"Just... Look outside. It may sound utterly ridiculous, but the Sun itself goes through a life cycle, and will eventually die. It's not alive though, but it's just a natural thing that all stars do."

Hm? What about the Earth?"

"Not really, the reason the Sun is, is because it's constantly unstable, and while it may seem small, it's thousands of times larger than the Earth. If you want, I can tell you a lot about astronomy and other things I learned in the outside world, and explain why I'm going to have to plan a bunch."

"Okay. Go ahead."

"Huh. You're one of the first people to ever voluntarily listen to one of my miniature lectures. Thanks. So, the life cycle of a star is generally quite simple. It starts out as a nebula, a cloud of dust and gases in space. The gases eventually can gather in an area and become so dense that due to the gravity, matter is being forced together to the point that atoms fuse together, giving off heat and light."

"What's an atom."

"An atom is one of the most basic components of matter, basically everything in the universe that isn't the vacuum of space, which is just complete emptiness. To put it simply, the pressure in stars is hardly rivaled throughout the universe. When the atoms start fusing, the process is called nuclear fusion, and the mass of collected gas and dust is considered a star. It starts out as a red dwarf. The star isn't necessarily any smaller than others, but it may appear that way from Earth because red dwarf stars are dim, and cooler than most. Still, by no standards are they cold, and if you get even close you'll still get incinerated quite quickly. The next stage is the yellow star. The Sun is an example of a yellow star. It's basically in the middle, brighter and hotter than a red star, but dimmer and cooler than a blue star. A blue star is the hottest and brightest, the last stage of a star's main sequence. Then it could go through two paths. One of which is to go to the red giant phase, where the star's volume grows to several times its original size, but is about as hot as a red dwarf, but about the same brightness as a blue star. Then the next stage is the white dwarf, which may be smaller than the original star. It's about the temperature of a blue star, but about the brightness of a red dwarf. From there, it eventually stops performing nuclear fusion, and dies off. Then there's the more violent death path, which is kind of irrelevant. Although, I really am interested in pulsars... Also, keep in mind, this is just stuff I learned at school in terms of very basic astronomy, it may not be exactly correct."

"That's fine. So, what was it you were planning ahead for?"

"The thing is, if we're truly going to live forever, then we're going to end up outliving even the stars. It's utterly ridiculous to think about. Stars live billions of years, and a human like myself is normally supposed to live for around a hundred. Last I checked, a billion is a whole lot more than a hundred."

"I know. It's probably hard to take it all in."

"Yeah... I mean, you say you've been around for at least hundreds of years, I've been around for a little over seventeen."

"The age difference is substantial, but that doesn't bother you, does it? I mean, I'm practically still the same age as I was when I drank the elixir..." She seemed a bit worried.

"Kaguya, don't worry. Age isn't really much of a factor anymore. It's not like you and I need to worry about me dying of old age any more. We're in love as we are, and as we'll always be. Besides, you don't seem to be too much older than me, if you are, in terms of maturity. You still look as young as I am, not to mention, quite lovely."

"Why thank you." She blushed a little bit.

"I would be lying to say otherwise, but you're welcome anyway. So, out of curiosity, do you have much experience cutting hair?"

"No, not really."

"Eh, good enough. The worst case scenario would probably be me doing it myself. I might look even worse than I do right now if I were to cut it."

"I don't know, it probably wouldn't look too bad."

"Maybe not, but I think you probably have a better chance at making it look acceptable than I do."

"Perhaps, but we'll do that later, right?"

"Whenever you'd like is fine."

"Okay. Since you do seem to like outer space, tonight, maybe you'd like to see the telescope Eirin brought me from the Moon."

"Oh... That's right. Was I just preaching to the choir?"

"What does that phrase mean?"

"Was I just telling you what you already might have known?"

"Actually, yes. I will say that the outside world has come a long way in scientific knowledge. What you were saying was correct. Was I convincing when I was acting like I didn't know anything about that?"

"Yes, quite. That was embarrassing... Now you deserve even more credit for listening to my lecture, even though you already knew what all of that was about.

"It would have been rude had I interrupted you."

"Well, not really, but it's still very polite that you listened to the whole thing."

"Why thank you."

"Of course."

"Anyway, while we were staying in your house, I was able to get a look through the telescope you had in your room. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you see what our telescope looks like."

"Quite possibly. Mine at home was, as you saw, pretty much about to fall apart, not to mention the fact that it's still a beginner's telescope. Not to sound rude, but what is different about the telescope you have from the one at my house?"

"Oh, I'll show you tonight, it's a bit of a surprise."

"Okay." I stretched my arms, still tired from my nap, and offset by my erratic sleeping. "I feel like I could go for another nap... I probably shouldn't though..."

"Well, if you do, don't sleep for too long, okay? I don't think I can cut your hair if you're sleeping."

"Probably not, maybe if I just flew through a few clouds. That would probably get me awake."

"That would probably be rather cold, would it not?"

"Yep, and my point exactly. That might be just the thing to wake me up, but then again, thinking usually does the trick, and now I'm doing a lot of it."

"You don't have a tendency to pass out, do you? If so, Eirin can probably help with that."

"No, I just get tired, I don't suffer from narcolepsy."

"Is that what they call it?"

"In the outside world, yes, that's a condition of falling asleep at random, at least that's as much about it as I understand."

"I don't really know much about it either."

"It is an odd condition though." I let out a brief yawn. "So, what to do for the time being? It still feels weird not having to do anything, or not having anything to do. Then again, for a while now, I still haven't known what I should do, about a lot of things too. I guess you could say I'm slow to adjust to major lifestyle changes."

"Well, you have plenty of time to adjust now, don't worry."

"That's a good point." I sat there, still confused. I didn't know what to do to pass the time. I doubted that simple conversation would be enough to keep awake for much longer, but I wasn't going to run outside and start picking fights like some complete moron, just for the sake of waking up. "So, what do you do here to pass the time?"

"Not too much, but I guess if you want, we could just go out on a walk or something."

"Perhaps that would warm my brain up." I stood up, before momentarily losing control of my legs and falling over to the side. I got up again, managing to maintain my balance. "Okay, not sure what that was about..."

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"No, luckily. At least I didn't knock the tea over. Ugh... Now I feel dumb..."

"So, shall we be going now?"

"Yeah, sure." We then walked back outside, and started walking along the edge of the bamboo forest. "So, since you knew about everything, with the Sun eventually making the world unable to support life, and its eventual destruction, have you been planning ahead for that?"

"Well, among lunarian society, those issues became pretty important when scientists noticed a gradual change in the Sun's temperature. I don't know what they're planning, but through magic, it's quite possible that we could extend the Sun's life. That kind of spell was already being developed when I was exiled from the Moon."

"Oh. I see. I never got around to asking, but how is life on the Moon?"

"I don't really know what it's like now, but when I was there, I didn't really like it. Everyone was so conceited. I guess it was just a social trend, or at least I hope so. Maybe even today, most lunarians despise humans, thinking of them as lower beings, simply because they're not as advanced. I even used to think the same way, but I managed to put that prejudice aside long ago, and had I not, I wouldn't be here with you now."

"Well, a condescending manner wouldn't suit someone like you."

"What do you mean?"

"You're far too polite and kind. Throw a condescending attitude into the mix, and it's all wasted. It's a good thing that you're not like that. It has to be kind of tough though, going against what your society thinks."

"It wasn't the easiest thing to do, accepting humans, but I knew that it would probably be a long time until I returned to the Moon. Eventually, I started to like it here on Earth. Sure, there were some people who were like those on the Moon, but mostly, people were a lot more accepting of others. Eventually I came to Gensokyo. Eirin and I have been living here ever since."

"Huh. Well, I'm glad that humanity hasn't much disappointed you."

"I do hope that it's true that most of the outside world isn't like the party I saw before your cousin's wedding."

"Yeah, same here. I've just avoided society as much as I could, so I'm not so sure. Trying to be reasonable though, I doubt that the rest of human society is nearly as bad as that. If it were, then it would have fallen apart by now. It would be a nightmare to try to maintain order."

"If it took you having to knock that one person out for harassing me, then what would it be like to stop everyone like that?"

"Well, that may have been me being a hothead, but it still would not end well. If you know what a riot is, I imagine they would be a big problem if society degraded to the point where ignorance and selfishness were left to fester and turn to disorder and revolt."

"What are riots? I'm not familiar that term."

"Well, it's when a crowd of people basically cause chaos, destroy things, and overall, it's just bad when they happen."

"Oh. I wouldn't want to see something like that..."

"Yeah, they're not pleasant. Especially not in widespread amounts. I assume these weren't much of a problem on the Moon, were they?"

"No. What purpose does participating in one serve anyway? It just sounds barbaric."

"I don't know, most of the time, it's when something happens that causes people to become upset, they decide to take it out on whatever and whoever they can. It is quite barbaric, I agree. There's nonviolent protest, which I'm fine with, but then there are riots, where innocent bystanders could be put in harm's way.

"Fortunately I've never seen such a thing. You haven't seen any, have you?"

"Not in person, but I end up getting to see them on the news sometimes. It's not good to have to see one, and even worse if it's nearby."

"Hopefully in the future, that won't be a problem."

"I wish. There's already too many things I want to fix about society, but to them at least, I'm too unimportant to make any change."

"Well, with all that you're doing, I don't think they have the right to call you unimportant."

"I think they would agree if they had any idea. I could try to tell them, but they would think I'm crazy. I could try to prove it to them, but I don't have powers in the outside world. Then again, I'm staying here in Gensokyo, so it doesn't matter what happens in the outside world, at least not to me."

"Well. We've heard that in the outside world, people have been going to the Moon. It's actually becoming a problem for the lunarian society. Reason being is they're worried that the lunar capital could be discovered. If the humans wish to conquer the lunar capital, and somehow breach the barrier of the Moon that is similar to that of Gensokyo, they may be able to eradicate the lunarians."

"I hope they wouldn't try to. Would there be any case upon which I would be able to intervene if they attempted to invade?"

"Well, if you insist upon going to the Moon, I know how to get you there. I still would rather stay in Gensokyo if that's okay."

"Don't worry, I only would want to go there if they're under attack. I'm not going to let humanity commit an act of genocide if I have a chance to stop it. Then again, I sincerely doubt humans are going to be able to get on the Moon in the capacity necessary to invade, reason being, technology still isn't too advanced in terms of space flight. Although they do have satellites."

"What's a satellite exactly?"

"Well, it's a device that orbits something, like the Moon in this case. If they eventually manage to use satellites in warfare for more than reconnaissance or guiding missile attacks, they could possibly use them to try to take over, then again, seeing my attack method, I imagine that me, or really anyone from Gensokyo or the Moon for that matter, could be able to gun a satellite down. They're pretty delicate with all of their instruments and all. The only problem is that they can maintain a good distance from whatever they're orbiting. I don't think that's too much of a problem though, because if there is something protecting the lunar capital like how Gensokyo's barrier protects it from the outside world, then I doubt that the humans will be able to do anything in terms of attacking."

"I agree that there probably isn't much of a chance of an invasion."

"Luckily, because I already have enough on my plate with that monstrous hulk thing..."

"Oh, about that, do you think you should try to develop new types of attacks? Reimu said something about how you used some kind of magical blades. I don't think I've ever seen an attack like that."

"Huh, you haven't? You didn't see when I was fighting the creature today?"

"No actually, I didn't notice."

"Well, if you'd like, I could show you, but I'll urge you to take a few steps away."

"Okay." She backed away slightly. I raised my arms above my head, then generated and extended some blades upward, each still the length of one of my arms. "Want to try it out on some bamboo? I'm kind of curious to see how effective it is."

"Well... I don't know."

"It grows back very fast, don't worry."

"Okay, if you insist." I walked over to a stalk of bamboo, and as expected, it provided no resistance whatsoever. They were able to cut through things, and it still felt as easy as just moving my arm.

"I didn't mean like that. Imagine that the bamboo stalks are some kind of enemy or something."

"Are you not too fond of this forest?" I replied jokingly. "Alright, here we go." I backed up to where Kaguya was, then charged towards the forest, jumped, and rapidly spun mid-air. That maneuver definitely showed up a circular saw. I stopped the attack, and looked back at the path of bamboo that was cleanly cut down. I extended the blades a bit more, and held them to the sides as I walked back to Kaguya, taking down more stalks. I then dissipated the blades.

"Impressive."

"Thanks."

"So, how did you learn that attack anyway? I still don't know anyone who uses anything like that."

"I kind of just figured it out myself. The first time was when I went to fight the thing just after we came back from the wedding."

"Oh, I see."

"So, if you want, I could try to teach you how to use energy blades, but I don't know how good of a teacher I'd make. Every time that I thought about what it would be like to be a teacher, I always imagined myself just losing it and running out of the classroom yelling, but that would be for kindergarten or something. I don't much like having to deal with small children at times. Like that one time I was at one of my brother's baseball games, and some kid maybe six years old started chucking rocks at me. I don't know what I did, but, rocks... It was not pleasant at all."

"I wouldn't imagine it to be."

"I'd guess... So. Is there anything you want to do? I might head out to see if there's anything else that needs to be done."

"Well, I was kind of hoping you would stay here with me."

"Alright then, I don't know what else would need my attention anyway. So, should we go back inside, or do you just want to walk around a bit more?"

"Okay." Apparently, my violent acts toward the bamboo were enough to wake me up. Luckily I did not plant my face in the ground by losing my balance, as I just had inside.

"I think I already asked this, but is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

"I'm not sure. If there's something you want to say, feel free."

"I can't think of anything to talk about either. Well, just wondering, I guess. Does the weather in Gensokyo always stay well?"

"Generally it's pretty good."

"Okay, I was wondering because, like when I kind of melted down earlier, a storm formed above me, was that a coincidence, or did I have something to do with that? If so, then I'm a good bit more powerful than I guessed."

"I saw that, I don't think it was a coincidence, it came out of nowhere."

"Hm. I wonder if that could be used as an attack. I know! Car-sized hailstones!" I continued to act silly. Kaguya laughed a little bit. I scratched my chin, still trying to think of something to say. My mind was surprisingly blank. "I wonder what kind of attacks I could use though... You probably didn't hear this part from Reimu, but I was able to, I don't really know how to describe it... I was able to read the thing's mind, and attack it. I disabled one ability spontaneously, which was it being able to disguise itself. I don't know if it stuck though. I hope it did. I wonder if I can use that ability to find out whatever it is. To be frank though, I don't much care to find out." We heard something above suddenly. I generated some blades again, but kept them concealed. Then we saw what it was. I sighed in relief, seeing that it was only Reimu. "Oh, hey there."

"Hey. Jacob, I just wanted to tell you that, the other Jakob left through the barrier. He said something about how he didn't want to be drawn into your battles, but really, it's not like it's your fault..." She explained. I became infuriated internally at being abandoned, and wanted an outlet for my fury immediately. "So, you said something before about a radio thing, right?"

"Actually, I don't think those will work, seeing as they run on battery power, and I sincerely doubt they'll get anything near a decent signal."

"Oh. That's unfortunate." I was somewhat upset about that. It was a good idea, but technological limitations had to stomp on any chance of success. "So, Kaguya, I needed to talk to you about something."

"Oh, okay." Kaguya replied. The two walked back inside, and I started patrolling. I heard something else approaching. I inhaled deeply, preparing for the thing to attack at any second. I got lucky, as I only saw Sakuya.

"Sheesh, can you guys quit scaring me like that..." I muttered.

"Oh, sorry." I looked at her, and I suddenly got a bad feeling.

"So, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Remilia? You're normally holding her umbrella for her." I was starting to suspect that I may have been wrong, and only did something to just shut down the ability temporarily. I had a feeling I wasn't talking to Sakuya.

"Actually, she sent me here to talk to you."

"Is that so? On what business?"

"She wanted to see if you were willing to train with me." I tilted my head a bit, and raised an eyebrow.

"Sakuya, are you in the right mind? I would kill you! A lot of my recently developed attacks are lethal. I still need to kill that thing. Also, I'm not really going to be able to teach you anything, I'm not teacher material. It would be pretty much pointless, no, it would be completely pointless." I decided to try something. I started to focus, to see if I could read her mind remotely, without having to act like I was trying to snap her neck. It didn't work. I had to make physical contact to infiltrate the target's mind. Then I came up with a pretty dastardly plan. "Okay, sorry about the outburst... I'm just kind of paranoid. That thing's getting to me. I guess I need a hug..."

"If you wanted one, why didn't you just ask?"

"I don't know, my mind's not working right..." So, I did it, I was able to see its mind. Then, the creature started to revert to its true form, but was in the middle of transforming when I enacted my plan. I sent out a force wave again, sending it flying back, and ripping its arms off completely, sending them flying behind me. I shook my head, seeing the utterly failed attempt to kill me foiled by none other than myself. I shrugged. "Did you think it was going to be that easy to kill me? I just got abandoned by what I thought was a friend, and I am ticked off!" I generated some blades, and walked towards the wounded monster. Reimu and Kaguya emerged nearby, but were keeping their distance. "You know, I'm curious. What the heck are you, monster? Trying to kill everyone that I could ever even think to care about, wanting to destroy everything I could ever think to care about. Tell me, what are you? That's one thing I'd like to know before I finish you off. I'll get the information out of you one way or another, so let's make it the not-so excruciatingly painful way, shall we?"

"Ask yourself, what were you?" It spoke in the disturbing tone. I raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"Are our goals all so different?"

"My goal is to stop you from destroying two worlds, what is yours? To destroy them."

"Well, if that's what you believe." It started to regenerate. I stomped on its chest and sliced off the new limbs, sending up more of the dark brown fluid that was its version of blood. "How do you think I was created?"

"Uh... An elephant seal and a meatloaf got together? You tell me."

"Well, if my goal is to destroy, I must be quite hateful, is that incorrect?"

"In the capacity you've decided to dedicate yourself to, yes, you're an incredibly hateful thing that deserves nothing but destruction!" The creature let out a disgusting laugh.

"You don't understand, do you?"

"Understand what?"

"Don't you remember that, as you call it, old self, of yours? The tormented child that wanted nothing more than vengeance, to get even with all who caused you misery, to watch the world burn, knowing that justice was being done, that's where I hail from. I am nothing more than your darkest moments, your worst fears, your greatest hatred. Don't you see now? How do you expect to defeat me while you still direct towards me the very same thing I was created from?"

"You really are a monster..."

"Does the incarnation of fear, hate, and suffering sound like a monster to you? If so, then I am glad to have the term monster as my title. How do you feel? Does it hurt you to know that you're the one responsible for my existence?" I was in shock, not even well able to speak.

"I... I got rid of that part of me so long ago! I killed it off, buried it down where it would never cause any harm to me ever again! Why do you exist?!"

"You don't realize, you foolish creature. I will exist as long as you think, as long as you breathe! You cannot destroy me!" I couldn't hold myself back a moment longer. I charged, screaming at the top of my lungs, ready to impale the thing, rip it apart, destroy it, to make sure it ceased to exist. The moment my blade was just touching it, it teleported away. I retracted my blades. I stood there, looking down, for what seemed to me like hours. I couldn't catch my breath, couldn't stop sweating, I couldn't even think right. I only moved when Kaguya finally came over to bring me inside. After a few steps, I fainted completely.


	35. A Plan of Desperate Measures

I woke up again, in the middle of the night. I was lying in the same hospital bed I had spent days sleeping in. I looked about, trying to get my bearings again. I noticed that in the bed to the right of me, Kaguya was sleeping. It was gently raining outside. I went out to cool off. I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't know anything about what I was supposed to even try to do. I was confused, and devastated. Since I drank the Hourai Elixir, I couldn't die, and if the monster would only die when I did, I would have to fend it off for all of eternity. There was a puddle nearby, so I got some water in my hands, and splashed my face. I couldn't think straight, and knew I needed to if I were to do anything to help anyone. I stayed there, continuously splashing myself for about five minutes. When my thoughts regained a status of relative clarity, I started to think what I could do.

"What can I do to erase that part of myself?" I asked aloud. I looked back in the window, seeing Kaguya. I started to think, and remembered the nightmare I had about my death. Kaguya loved me in the dream, which proved true. According to the creature, it would die when I died. I couldn't help but start to cry quietly. I had realized that I had found love, and realized I had all of eternity to enjoy my new life with Kaguya. Despite that, it seemed that I was going to have to sacrifice myself regardless. I didn't know how I could go about inflicting death upon myself when I was immortal, but I knew that it was going to have to be made possible, even if I had to deal the killing blow myself, I knew that for the sake of Gensokyo, and the outside world, I needed to be slain. I went back inside, and sat on my bed, unable to sleep. Eventually, as the Sun rose, I heard Kaguya wake up. I stopped writing, and went to greet her.

"Hey Kaguya..." As soon as I spoke, I could tell that I was still not right. My voice just sounded nervous, and unsure. Kaguya looked at me with some amount of shock.

"Have... Have you been up all night?"

"Yeah... Pretty much..."

"Are you okay? You sound really shaken up..."

"Yeah, I'll be fine..."

"Okay..." She walked out of the room. I went back to thinking about what I could possibly do. I went to another room, found an empty book in what seemed to be a small library, and a pen with an inkwell. I began to write any possible ideas as to what the solution could have been, possible ways of working around my immortality to be able to defeat the monster. At the same time, I was searching for the best scenario possible, one that wouldn't involve me dying, as I didn't want to lose my chance at making up for my troubled past with a gifted future. I wrote the whole day, about possible solutions, and even into the night again, not sleeping, not willing to lose all that I cared about. Every time I looked over a plan, I'd become frustrated and scribble over it as it seemed futile. I had written down seventy-three plans in that time frame, and all of them were discarded. My mind became blank, and I sat alone. A few moments later, Eirin came to check on me.

"Jacob, is something wrong? You've been in here for... You've been here all day... You probably should get some sleep..." She explained her concern.

"No, no, I'm fine..." I replied meaninglessly. I was starting to sound genuinely insane. I was almost certain that my sanity was no longer completely intact.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just writing... Something..."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing..." I was still shivering somewhat. I hadn't slept for days, and was still very uneasy. I was paranoid that she'd see all the grotesque ways of trying to end myself in a way that the Hourai Elixir couldn't revive me from.

"Can I see it then?"

"Well.." She had carefully taken the book while I formulated a response. I lay my head down on the table. "I really don't know what I'm going to do..." I was on the verge of tears again.

"What's the matter?" Seeing my ruined plans, she set the book back down.

"Eirin, you don't understand..." I lifted my head to look her in the eyes, only showing my desperate expression. "If that monster dies, it will mean that I have already died... It cannot die unless I do the same... Please don't tell Kaguya about this, but I've been trying to find ways to sacrifice myself to defeat it, to protect Gensokyo and the outside world, and specifically, her..."

"Jacob... I'm so sorry, I had no idea..."

"Don't feel bad, it's all my fault anyway... I doomed myself to this through my unforgiving anger in the past... I'm the one that created that monster..." Eirin just stared at me in shock. "I've tried so hard to tell myself that it'll all be okay. No matter how much I write, no matter how much I try, I always realize again that it is all going to have to come down to it... It all has to come down to me dying...!" I lay my head in my arms on the table, breaking down. "I established a name for myself, started a new life! Now it all has to be taken away, and it's all because of my past!" I again lifted my head slightly, not even able to make eye contact with Eirin. "You mustn't tell Kaguya of this, I implore you, keep this a secret, or she will beg me to find an alternative when there is none..."

"I... I won't..." She agreed. She left the room, nearly in tears herself. I hit my fist on the table, as I wanted to survive to enjoy the life I was given a chance to experience, but there was no other way than to sacrifice myself. Even more dreadful was the fact that I had to do it in a way that even the Hourai Elixir couldn't save me from, and ideas of exactly how were starting to creep into my head again. My seventy-fourth idea came to me. I remembered that I was capable of manipulating the mind. The idea was that I could use that ability to render myself brain dead, and in a permanent coma, hopefully in order to destroy the memories from which the monster drew strength. The seventy-forth idea seemed to be the most promising in terms of successfully defeating the monster. The only problem with that plan was the fact that I was incapable of manipulating my own mind directly. I needed to find out how to work around that issue, and I couldn't bear to explain to Kaguya that I was planning to end myself, when she wanted to spend eternity with me.


	36. Cherishing The Time Remaining

By the morning of the next day, I had recovered to the extent of being able to talk without bursting into tears, and being able to function without shivering madly. I had slept some, which definitely seemed to help. I finally walked out of the room that I had isolated myself in, similar to how I isolated myself from my family in the outside world. I didn't want to return to old habits, so I forced myself to leave, and go out to see Kaguya. She saw me in a hallway as I slowly walked towards a door to the outside.

"Jacob, there you are!" She ran over and hugged me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…" I was hoping that someone would eventually be able to see through that lie I threw about so many times, as a child, and all throughout the troubled parts of my life. I wanted someone to see that I wasn't okay, that I needed help, but I didn't want to worry them, I was afraid, as I always was.

"I haven't seen you since yesterday. Where did you go?"

"I was just in there." I pointed to the room I had stayed and written my ideas in.

"So… That was you...?"

"What was me?"

"Yesterday, I was hearing crying… I thought it was just one of Eirin's patients with a broken bone or something, and in pain… What happened?"

"I was just realizing what all I had put in jeopardy… The outside world, Gensokyo, and for that matter, the Moon even… It's hard to stay sane knowing that I'm the reason that everything could fall apart… I still was just terrified of that thought…"

"Jacob, let's go talk to Eirin, I've heard you say you're fine before, but you weren't. You don't need to try to hide it if something's wrong, we're here for you."

"Kaguya… You're the only one who has ever been able to see through that… I just don't want to cause any more trouble than I have already…"

"Jacob, if you're helping us to stop it, you've already done more than make up for any trouble you've caused. Come on, let's get you to the clinic." I went with her, and Eirin eventually met us.

"Oh, hello." She said.

"Eirin, do you have anything to help Jacob, any antidepressants or something?"

"Of course, just give me a moment." She came back a short time later, and handed me a small bottle of medicine and a glass of water.

"Thanks." I spoke up, and drank the medicine, then the water.

"Also, Jacob, do you want to get your haircut and everything now?" Kaguya asked.

"Sure, if you want to." She led me into the room with the hospital beds again, and I sat on one. The process began, and after some time, Eirin and Kaguya, both seemed satisfied with their work. I looked at a window, and saw my reflection. Surprisingly, it was night outside. "Oh dear, it looks like I've grown quite a bit of stubble… As a child I'd have celebrated that fact… Now I don't really care too much about it. If you want, this is fine, I could shave it myself or something."

"I think I can try to do this." Kaguya insisted.

"Okay then." They took a bit less time with shaving off my stubble. Surprisingly, I didn't have any unpleasant cuts on my face or neck.

"Alright. Done. Like it?" I looked in the window again.

"Well, Kaguya, for the first time in weeks I look presentable."

"Why thank you." I smiled at her, hurting again on the inside, knowing my time with her was possibly limited. I looked out the window again. It was a full Moon. It had been a while since I had seen one, and much longer since I had through a telescope.

"So, Kaguya, you wanted to show me a telescope?"

"Oh, right." I was genuinely curious as to what was so good about it, because she said I would be pleasantly surprised. She led me to another room which I also had not been familiar with, and she opened a window, and a telescope, not too different from the one I had owned. The body of the telescope was metal, and it obviously bore no brand marking. It was well polished, and the tripod was also very clean and new looking. The telescope was already in position to view the Moon. "Want to take a look through it?" Kaguya offered.

"Okay, do you not want me to look around, or is it okay if I look around?"

"I don't mind if you look around. I can get it focused on the Moon again pretty easily."

"Okay." I walked over, and looked through the telescope. The view I saw wasn't like that I saw through the telescope at my own home. I was able to see buildings, and no small amount of them. "Is that the lunar capital?" I asked, already betting my guess was right.

"Indeed it is." Then I noticed something else, behind the Moon, I was able to see something even more distant.

"Am I seeing things?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I think I can see a nebula behind the Moon, some distance away…"

"You're probably right then. This telescope isn't affected by the atmosphere. You can see just as well as if you were in open space."

"Well that's impressive. So you could probably use this in the day even."

"Yes, it can be used in the day as well, but it may be more difficult to initially find something if you had a specific target in mind."

"Out of curiosity, what all can this pick up? I mean, I've always been curious about what a pulsar looks like, but you can't really see those with normal telescopes, you usually need a radio telescope."

"Oh, if you'd like to go outside, I could show you, I don't know if we can see any in the range of the window."

"Oh, okay."

"Not to mention, on the night of a full Moon, we always hold a Moon festival, and it usually gets quite noisy. I think it might be good to take a break from that once."

"Yeah, I'd probably agree. I usually get very awkward when I'm around large groups of people."

"You didn't seem too awkward when you were fighting that thing, when we were all at the Moriya Shrine."

"Kaguya, let's not talk about that monster, okay…?" Once again, my voice displayed an air of uncertainty, and depression.

"Oh, okay…" It still caused me pain knowing that I was too afraid to let her know about what I was planning, but instead of worry, I just wanted to spend as much quality time with her as I possibly could.

"Sorry, it's just… This whole thing's really messing with me, you can talk about it if you really want to, but, let's avoid it if possible, okay?"

"Okay. So, shall we go outside?"

"Sure. Want me to get the telescope?"

"Okay." She replied as she prepared to leave. I lifted the telescope up. I was surprised, I expected it to be incredibly heavy, because of some hidden instrument, but it turned out to be even lighter than the one at my home, either that, or I'd simply grown stronger since the last time I picked up mine, which was equally possible. Kaguya took a lantern, and we went out into the edge of the clearing around Eientei. I set the telescope up, and then Kaguya took over. It took her only a few moments to find a suitable pulsar. "Okay, here's one."

"That fast?"

"I've used this telescope quite a bit."

"Heck, I used to have more difficulty just finding the Moon, and I knew exactly where it was too…"

"Well, I wouldn't blame you with that telescope." I felt like she was just trying to make up an excuse for my ineptitude. I shook my head with a bit of a smile.

"Kaguya, don't be afraid to accept the fact that you're better than me with a telescope."

"Oh... Well... Want to take a look?"

"Sure." I accepted her offer. She stepped to the side, and I looked through the telescope. Perfectly centered, there was a blinking light, flashing several times a second. "Wow… I've only seen images of pulsars on a computer… I've never expected to actually see one like this…"

"They're invisible to normal telescopes, are they not?"

"They are, for the most part at least. So, this telescope can basically cancel out the effects of the atmosphere on light, and pick up radio waves?"

"It is quite impressive."

"So, can this find galaxies too?"

"Yes, but it's kind of hard to get it set up to do that. The focus is pretty sensitive, and it usually takes a long time to get it right."

"Oh, I see. It's quite amazing though. This is the same size as the telescope I had, and it's doing something that only telescopes many times larger than it are capable of doing, and even then, this one still is more effective."

"One thing that cancels out the sometimes snobby nature of lunarians are their mastery of some types of technology."

"I would agree with that, but I've not really been on the Moon at all."

"I'm still not in a hurry to go back though, honestly."

"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to." Even when I was not looking through the telescope, I could still tell it was a beautiful night. The sky was clear, and made way for a wonderful view. I lay down on my back, like I sometimes did in my back yard. I took a deep breath, and started trying to bring back my optimistic thoughts. I was there with Kaguya, I was in Gensokyo. I was going to die, sure, it was a very formidable possibility, but I was going to make the most out of the time I had. Kaguya came over to my side, and joined me. "Even though the telescope is pretty amazing, I find this view better."

"Why's that?"

"Because I get to share it with you." A time passed, and I nearly drifted off to sleep again. Then we heard people arriving for the festival. I sat up, and shook my head to wake myself up the rest of the way. "So, you're sure you don't want to go over to take part in the festival?"

"I've been there enough times to take a break to spend time with you."

"Thanks Kaguya." Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound in the foliage nearby. "Oh for crying out loud…" I stood up, and readied my blades again, but not to their fullest extent. Expecting the monster to try to ruin the wonderful evening I was having, I was relieved when it wasn't. It was a girl I hadn't met before, and confusingly, she had ears like that of a rabbit. I let myself fall back. I landed harder than I had hoped.

"Oh, Reisen, are you here for the festival?" Kaguya asked

"As always." The newcomer replied.

"Hello Reisen." I spoke up, happy to have finally met her. "My name is Jacob." I propped myself up and extended my hand for a handshake. I had to lean forward to do so, as I was still on the ground, and She looked at me oddly. I was starting to regret my decision of letting myself fall backwards so carelessly, as I had knocked the wind out of myself upon landing.

"Reisen, what's wrong?" Kaguya asked."

"Oh. Nothing, it's just..."

"Why are you so shy near Jacob?"

"Do you trust him Kaguya?"

"I wouldn't be refraining from participating in the festival, just to spend time with some man I don't trust." Kaguya's voice alone showed that she was also confused by Reisen's anxiousness towards me.

"I'm sorry, I just haven't seen you before." She then accepted the handshake.

"Oh, I should ask. Is anyone else going to be coming through this general area? That way I'll know so I don't constantly jump up in combat mode and look like an idiot." I inquired, hoping not to make a fool of myself again if someone were to pass through.

"Not that I know of. Reisen informed me, dismissing some of my worry.

"Okay, thanks…" I coughed a bit, still trying to recover. Reisen walked past and entered Eientei. "See? I told you I act awkward with people around, even the others arriving are starting to affect me."

"No, you're just being a little bit silly, you're not too awkward." Kaguya tried to defend me from my own criticism.

"Call it what you may, but I just act weird around people. I'm trying to think of an example…"

"Don't worry, you're still behaving perfectly fine."

"Yeah, I can get that far, but still make people back away from usually embarrassing myself. Well, I at least should have been embarrassed. It takes a lot to do that for me."

"Well, that means you don't take yourself too seriously, that's good, right?"

"Yeah, if you like me acting silly, that's a good thing."

"Well... I love you just the way you are." She said as she took my hand with hers.

"I've always wanted to hear that from someone. It means a lot to me coming from you." The two of us lay down again, just looking into the sky. I hoped that I somehow would be able to defeat the creature without using the plan of rendering myself in a permanent coma. Even with the Hourai Elixir, it wouldn't so much attack my body, as it would destroy my consciousness. That being known, I didn't know how it would be possible to survive it. "I didn't think it would ever be true at the time I arrived, but coming to Gensokyo is probably the best thing that I've ever done for myself."

"I'm happy to hear that. You coming here has done a lot for everyone else too."

"That's a good thing. Originally, I didn't have any idea I was going to be coming here to Gensokyo. In fact, the first day I arrived, I wanted to go home to the point where I cried myself to sleep. Now I find myself not wanting to go back. It's just better here, I know a lot more people here. For once, I have more friends than I do enemies, and people care about me here, and I care about them." I closed my eyes, trying to get a bit of rest. "This whole thing may have been caused by me, but I'll be dead before I let that monster win..."

"Don't worry, that won't happen. Once that thing's gone, we can just go about our lives like normal, and I'm sure you'll be under a lot less stress than you are now."

"At the moment, I'm not under too much stress, and that's probably because you're here with me." I kept trying to convince myself that everything was going to be alright. I started to think ahead, about what would become of me. I wondered if Kaguya and I would be able to marry, seeing as I couldn't marry a normal person, as I would outlive them, but I still didn't want to get my hopes up too high, because there was still the chance that I wouldn't survive. "So, what was it like here, before I showed up, before that thing became a problem?"

"It was like you could probably guess. It was very peaceful, nobody ever had to worry about the world ending. Gensokyo has always been a good place to be. I think that the conflict is nearing its, end, since you've been growing stronger, and have been better able to fight the monster every time you've encountered it. It may have said it draws power from you, but I know you'll be able to overcome it. You've already come this far after all. You found out what the monster was, you have been able to defend us from it, and you're probably even stronger than it is now."

"That's what I'm hoping. If I can't stop it, then I don't know what's going to happen, to me, or to the rest of Gensokyo, to the outside world. It's unfortunate that there's so much at stake. This isn't a game, there are no restarts, and I've got one chance to stop it. Normally I can perform well under pressure, but this is hard to even comprehend… I wonder how my family's responding to me not being there, but then again, I was supposed to be in a different country anyway."

"You did have to leave them on pretty short notice, didn't you?"

"Very much so. If only they knew what I still have to do. I still have a ways to go, and I don't think it's quite over yet. I'm definitely closer than ever before when it comes to defeating the monster."

"I know, and I'll be with you the whole time if there's any way I can help." Suddenly, there was another rustling in the foliage. I rolled my eyes, stood up, and just glared into the forest slightly.

"Hey, if there's anyone else coming through this way, tell them to try to go around okay, you're getting me on edge…" I didn't receive a response. I tilted my head.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, I don't see anything. The lantern's not enough." I emitted an aura again to light up the surroundings. I froze when I found myself standing only feet away from a werewolf. She seemed humanoid, and was wearing clothing. I could only identify her as a werewolf due to her blood-red eyes, and her claws of the same color. "Kaguya! Run!" I hurried to stand in front of her. I generated my blades as shed, but didn't even get a chance to attack. I charged back, and put all of the force I could in a desperate attempt to keep her back. Kaguya quickly ran back inside, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if I needed to use a wooden stake or something, or if that was only for stereotypical vampires. I shoved her away for a few seconds, and remembered that she was still a person, just out of their right mind. I wasn't just about to kill an innocent person. "Whoa! Calm down! Calm down!"

"I know what you're trying to do! I can't let you succeed!" She spoke with a tone that conveyed some amount of worry and fear.

"What are you talking about?! I have to stop that monster from destroying Gensokyo! Getting mutilated is not how I'll go about doing that! I'm trying to help you and everyone else." Then she charged again, that time, clawing at my neck. I managed to dodge the attack. With little time to react to the next claw coming at me, I used a force wave to get some breathing room.

"This is pointless. You must be stopped!" She yelled. Then she changed into a form more reminiscent of an actual wolf. lunged at me again. Her jaw was wide open, and I leaned to the side to avoid getting my head bitten off. I wasn't able to fully dodge, but just before she bit down on my shoulder, I focused my energy in it, reinforcing it in a way similar to how I managed to block Yoshika when she tried to bite me. She gave up on biting my arm off after a few moments of pointless gnawing. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. I couldn't use magic blades, those were lethal, I couldn't use explosive shots, those were lethal, I couldn't just punch her wolf form, that wouldn't do anything, and I'd literally get my face clawed off. I considered using standard ranged attacks as well, but I was too close, and there was a chance that they wouldn't knock her out quickly enough. I could only think of one thing to try. I let her charge again, reinforcing my skin to prevent injury. I decided to try to test out my ability to manipulate minds. I practically hugged the her, and time slowed down as I established a link to her mind. I read through her memory to find out why she was attacking. Somehow, she believed I was attempting to destroy Gensokyo, and the structure of that thought was forged, which meant something alarming. She had been hypnotized, manipulated to kill me, or try her best at least. I was in a position to end the pointless struggle, so I sent an immense amount of energy through her nervous system, overloading it, while also deleting her short term memory, including the effects of her mind's previous manipulation. Simultaneously, a considerable amount of the energy reflected back to me. Time resumed, and a sharp pain stung at my head. She collapsed, and I yelled in pain as I fell similarly. I charged my own energy, and sent it towards my head. Like before, it was able to alleviate the pain. I noticed the attacker's form revert to normal.

"I'm sorry about that..." I whispered, feeling bad for her. She didn't really know what she was doing.

"Jacob!" Kaguya yelled from behind me. I was still on my knees, holding my head.

"I'm okay!" I called back. I removed my hands, stood up, and turned back, walking towards Kaguya. Eirin came outside as well, joined by Reisen. The two of them carried her into Eientei, I assumed to treat her of injuries. Kaguya hugged me.

"What happened? Neither of you seemed hurt."

"Yeah, I caused her to suffer a blackout. She reflected a lot of the power I used, and that's why I yelled. It hurt quite a bit."

"I would guess, if it backfired. I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm even more glad that you're okay." I thought briefly back to my plan to defeat the monster. I needed to destroy my consciousness, and what I had done was practically force the werewolf into a temporary coma. Since the attack reflected back upon me, I realized that if I performed the attack in large enough scale, I could have put myself, and the target, in the permanent coma that was necessary to delete the memories the monster derived its power from. Kaguya and I went back inside. I went back to the hospital room, and once again went to sleep in the bed that I had slept in repeatedly before.


	37. The Last Piece of The Plan

I woke up at about ten the next morning. My mind was blank, and I was still rather foggy from having just awakened. Kaguya was standing next to me.

"Oh, you're awake!" She welcomed me back into reality.

"Ugh..." I groaned, not able to do much else. Kaguya patiently waited while I came to my senses. "Where… Where is she?"

"What?"

"The werewolf..." I still was slurring my speech a bit, not completely awake.

"Oh, she woke up earlier and left. Her name is Kagerou Imaizumi. She wanders about the bamboo forest. I probably should have warned you that there was a chance she would appear, but usually she stays farther away, but she's never been so aggressive before. As to where she is, she left a little bit ago. We've dealt with this kind of thing before."

"She was hypnotized, someone manipulated her mind so that she would attack me. I don't know… Satori wouldn't do that, but… Who else can manipulate minds?"

"I don't know."

"I should go to check on her anyway, so that I know whether or not she

"The attack I used to stun her. I just wanted to make sure I didn't kill her or anything."

"Kill? You didn't even wound her. Don't worry."

"Also good to hear." She didn't realize that I was further on the path to defeating the monster, and that it was the same path to my destruction. I knew that if she knew of my plan, she would certainly try to convince me not to take such a dangerous approach to defeating the monster, but it was the only approach I saw any chance of success in. I wasn't going to senselessly extend the conflict that threatened those I cared about. I was going to end it as soon as I could. "Any idea where she went?"

"No, not really, she's a werewolf who roams the bamboo forest, she's pretty elusive when she wants to be.."

"I'd bet. Regardless, we probably should go to check on her, and see if she has any idea what happened."

"Well, if you want to go into the bamboo forest, I should go with you, so you don't end up getting lost. If you fly over the forest like you normally do, you probably won't find her, and if you go on foot, then you could get lost."

"Good point. Should we head out now?"

"Sure."

"Hopefully once the monster is dead, I'll be able explore without the risk of getting shot to pieces. It'd be nice to be able to have a clear mind, and have no worries of any enemies."

"I hope that's not all you're looking forward to." Kaguya smiled, leaning towards me a bit. I smiled back at her.

"I'm looking forward to a lot of things." I patted her on the shoulder. "We still have a long time to be together, don't we?"

"That we do."

"I much look forward to it."

"So do I. Shall we be off?"

"Lead the way." With that, the two of us headed out into the forest. We were exploring for quite some time, not finding anyone, but I would hear an occasional rustling in the foliage, investigate it, but not find anything. From boredom, I extended a blade from my left arm and started to cut a small trail of bamboo. "If you're wondering, that might grow back by the time we find her. Making a path probably won't work."

"Oh, I'm just a bit bored. I've always been fascinated with this attack. The blade cuts through seemingly everything with no resistance."

"Magic can be quite amazing."

"Yeah, I think this is cool, but you said the lunarians have a spell to extend the Sun's lifespan, right?"

"Indeed."

"As an astronomy nerd, that is amazing."

"Could you elaborate on the term nerd?"

"Oh. Thinking about it, it's hard to describe what a nerd is. It's just, I like things that are usually associated with someone who is smart and has no social life, but after all, that's what I've been for practically my entire life, a smart person with little to no social experience."

"Is it socially unaccepted to be intelligent in your society?"

"No, but the way bullying works, you'd think that. If you don't remember what a bully is, I compared them to, no, blatantly referred to them as parasites. The way I see it, they serve no purpose other than to belittle those they think are inferior to themselves. I've had to deal with them for as long as I've been in school. The only reason I didn't just lose my sanity completely was that I had eventually made it so those people were afraid of me. It's not a fun way to live, knowing you're only safe due to the fear of others. I've never had too much of a good time dealing with people in the outside world. Here, I can't think of anyone with a reason to be afraid of me, save for Seiga. Despite our last skirmish, I doubt she's going to hold anything against me. I could have killed her, and she knew it, but I let her go."

"Well, that was the honorable thing, so it doesn't surprise me that you chose not to kill her."

"When it comes down to it, even the people in the outside world that I used to utterly despise, I couldn't drive myself to bring harm to them without it being necessary. Several times, I had to defend Patchouli in the outside world. In the outside world, two thugs were pestering Patchouli, and they obviously intended to cause harm to her in some way. During the last encounter with them, if I wanted to, I could have killed them. Instead, I just let the authorities do their job."

"In the outside world, if you didn't have magic, how could you have killed them?"

"Oh, there's a lot of ways, but I'm not going to list them, because I'd sound psychotic. Just know that I'm not in fact psychotic, I'm just familiar with human anatomy. Remember, I've been studying into the medical field."

"Wait, I don't think you've mentioned that before."

"Oh, well… Surprise, I used to want to be a doctor or a veterinarian. It'll take me a while to get back to that career path though, since I practically dropped out of school to come here, but really, I have a life here. Not to mention, if I'm not here, I could be responsible for, well... There's over seven billion people living in the outside world..." Kaguya looked back at me, shocked at my statement. "Yeah, I'm not going to let that much be destroyed. That's why I'm still here."

"So, there's even more weight on your shoulders than even I had guessed…"

"Yeah, that's true, but I have a plan. Maybe not too good of a plan, but it's going to have to work."

"What's that?" I silently cursed myself for mentioning the plan to destroy my own consciousness.

"Really, I haven't worked the whole thing out. That's how bad of a plan it is…"

"Oh, I see." I breathed out a long exhale in relief, having alleviated her curiosity. "Hm?" Kaguya had heard me. I cursed myself again for being too loud.

"Nothing, still just the morning drowsiness."

"You're quite the sleepy one, aren't you?"

"Always have been, always will be."

"Have you ever slept for more than four days straight? That's your record, isn't it?"

"Four is my record, yes. I don't believe I've slept longer than four consecutive days."

"I would be surprised if you slept for longer than that. It was odd how you woke up just as you had finished recovering…"

"That was quite convenient for me, but I apologize again for being asleep for four days straight."

"You had broken ribs, and a hole all the way through your torso. You were entitled to a nap."

"Well, if you look at it that way…" We continued on our search.

"So, you're not still worried about this whole conflict with that monster right? I hate to see you suffer…"

"Well, thanks for feeling that way, but no, I'm not worried about it so much, but I can't help but feel a bit nervous, knowing what all is to be lost." A sudden gust of wind set an uneasy atmosphere. "So… You mentioned that someone was at odds with you, to say. You said her name was Mokou Fujiwara if I remember. Should I be worried about that?"

"Well, she does live somewhere in the forest here."

"Okay, now I'm a bit worried about it. Let's just see if we can find anything worth staying around to look at, then get out of here. I'm not about to let you get gutted alive, that's my job. Well, at least, that's what it's seemed like." Kaguya looked back at me again, her expression showed that she was confused a bit by my absurd comment. "Okay, in hindsight, that sounds utterly ridiculous… I'm still just being silly. I should wake up." I promptly slapped myself in the face to get my brain to work normally. Kaguya laughed a little bit.

"Why did you do that, silly?"

"That's how I wake myself up sometimes. It works, as dumb as that may sound."

"I can definitely tell you're from Earth."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, it's just that normally, getting slapped is a humiliating thing. Here you are, slapping yourself without a second thought to it."

"Ha. That's not even close to the extent of how silly I can act."

"The good thing about you, is that you can also be serious about things."

"As unrealistic as it sounds, that's true. Have I much evidenced that part?"

"You have, several times. Such as when you vowed to restore Yoshika, and to rescue Utsuho. Even a few days ago when you faced down the monster, you were very serious."

"When it comes down to it, I do serious up. From a few days ago, I wouldn't so much consider that seriousness, as much as borderline sadism… I can get to that level if I'm pushed too far, I really don't like when I get there either… I don't like to kill things, but when I actually feel good causing pain to something, you know I'm past my limit."

"Does anyone like to kill things, really?"

"Well, some people in the outside world enjoy hunting animals. Personally, I don't enjoy killing, and dislike practice such as hunting. That is why I became a vegetarian, so that an animal wouldn't have to die for my sustenance. Anyway, so about how far does Mokou live away from Eientei? I want to know when I should have my guard up."

"Not too far away, but not close enough to cause trouble regularly."

"Well, at least the last part is a bit reassuring."

"I wouldn't worry about her too much. Recently, she seems to have calmed down a bit, and hasn't been too outwardly hostile."

"That's good to hear. Why is she even hostile toward you, may I ask?"

"Oh, it's because a long time ago, her father was one of those people who wanted to marry me, and I rejected him. Since then, she's always hated me. She ended up stealing some of the Hourai Elixir, and drank it, so she also is immortal."

"Well… It's a good thing she's calmed down…"

"Indeed."

"I would very much hate it if today were a repeat performance of last night, where I had to fight out of nowhere."

"I'm sorry I didn't help you there…"

"It's okay. Remember, I told you to run You know I'd gladly put myself at risk to keep you safe."

"You don't always have to think that way if you don't want to."

"Why would I not want to? It wouldn't make me a very good person if I had just left you there to get clawed apart. Besides, I came out of that fight with not a scratch on me."

"That's a good point, but I didn't feel good about leaving you. You've been through a lot a lot of suffering already..."

"It's better off this way, as I can handle it, for the most part at least."

"I know, but you've already done more, and suffered more than any person should have to."

"I guess that's just fate. It's never been too much in my favor. With a few exceptions, of course."

"Such as?"

"Meeting you was one such exception."

"Well, I'm sure you probably would have had plenty of luck meeting other people who would have been willing to spend I'm just lucky to have you."

"Actually, I didn't even care about that aspect of life in the outside world. I was too awkward. Plus, a lot of the girls I had to deal with were very ill-mannered. You're not like that. When it comes to us being together, I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm very lucky that I have someone like you."

"I'm glad that you feel that way about me."

"I'm glad that you give me reason to feel that way. If I couldn't say that for you, I definitely wouldn't have been able to say that for anyone from the outside world. I had basically given up on finding love, but then I was pleasantly surprised when you told me that you wanted me to be with you. Not to mention, even with some of those people who focus on their appearance, you're still more beautiful than anyone I've ever met."

"Why thank you."

"You're welcome. I'd be lying if I told you otherwise." Another few moments of silence passed as we continued our search. "I'm going to try something while we're looking for Kagerou." I tried to conjure a blank spellcard like Patchouli had suggested. I repeatedly tried to do so, each time becoming frustrated when I only was able to materialize part of a card. "Oh come on..." I muttered after the fifth try.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to make a blank spellcard, but it won't work..." I tried again, and luckily, the spellcard was complete. The only problem was that it seemed to have a small tear in it. I growled in frustration as I threw it down and stomped on it. Surprisingly, the stomp had a lot more power in it than I had predicted. The ground shook, and multiple nearby bamboo stalks broke off. Dirt and small rocks were also sent upward in the blast. None of the expelled material fell to the ground. It seemed as if gravity had been suspended in my immediate area. Kaguya had to fly to regain stability. A few seconds later, gravity returned to normal. Kaguya stared at me as she landed.

"Since when could you do that?" She spoke with a tone of confusion mixed with relief from having landed.

"Since just now I guess. Let's get moving. We still have to find Kagerou."

"What was that?"

"I don't know..." I lifted my foot, and saw the spellcard had survived. I picked it up. The rip was still there. "I... Uh... I didn't scare you, did I?"

"Well, just a little bit..."

"Sorry about that. I still need to try to control my anger better... I really don't like to be intimidating. Unfortunately, I've had to be intimidating throughout most of my life... I just want to go back to when everything was peaceful. Don't you? I mean... I don't want to make people be afraid of me. I don't want fear to rule over anyone. I need to find a way to defeat the monster, and soon, otherwise Gensokyo could fall into chaos. Our little alliance is well able to defend against that monster, but now, I must take it upon myself to destroy it... I must overcome it before it can overcome me. I'm getting close now."

"I know, hopefully this will all be over soon enough. Then you'll be able to enjoy Gensokyo without having to deal with all of your stress."

"It'll be so nice to be like most people were in childhood, carefree and without stress. I didn't get that in the past, so maybe the future will make it all worthwhile. As a child, I had to mature quickly, and adjust to hostile society. Once this is all over, I can savor every moment as I get to live the slow and peaceful life I've always wanted."

"That would be nice."

"Yeah. That's all going to have to wait though..." I realized that I was stalling. I also thought about other things I needed to do. One thing was that I needed to get stronger, so that I could actually force enough energy through a target's nervous system to backfire to the point of putting myself into a coma, and thus depriving the monster of the psychological scar tissue that was my hateful past. Kaguya and I turned back towards Eientei, and began our return trip.

"So. Once the monster is defeated, do you have any specific plans?"

"Well, I don't really have any that I was thinking about. I guess I'll have to make plans as they're needed. I hate having to focus strictly on how to defeat the monster, but I don't have a choice. I'm not certain what the future holds," I reached over and grabbed one of Kaguya's hands. "But whatever happens, we're going through it together, right?"

"I wouldn't abandon you now, Jacob." She smiled in response. Her presence truly had an effect on me. I was a lot more powerful when motivated by the need to protect her. In addition to that, when I wasn't in combat, I was always a lot more calm when she was with me. I had long dismissed trying to find someone to spend my time with, as I found it pointless. Kaguya's mere presence let me stay happier than I was at most times in the outside world. We continued to search. It took a while for me to calm down entirely, as I still was somewhat agitated from the narrowly avoided conflict. I guessed that Kaguya wasn't eager to stay out in the forest too much longer, so I set a deadline.

"If we don't find her pretty soon, then I guess we may want to turn back." I announced.

"Didn't you say she was hypnotized?"

"Yeah, why?"

"That's a pretty big deal if someone set her up to kill you. We probably should get to the bottom of this."

"You've got a point. Do you want to stay out to look for a while longer?"

"As long as you're out here, I'll stay with you."

"Thanks. So, do we have any ideas where she may be?"

"Well, not really..."

"Alright. I'm not going to suggest we split up, because then I'd probably get lost as you said, and have to fly back to Eientei to start up my search again."

"That may be a consequence of searching separately. I think it's advisable that we stay together."

"I agree. Let's keep moving." The two of us continued our search. "I wonder what responsibilities I'll have once this is all over... I wonder if I'll still be a protector of Gensokyo, or if I'll be forgotten..."

"Jacob, you'll never be forgotten. Not by me, not by anyone you've met during your time in Gensokyo."

"I really hope that will be the case."

"You're probably one of the reasons we're all still alive. Reimu may be strong, but I remembered something from a few days ago. When you were defending the Moriya Shrine from the monster, and it managed to fly around you, like the rest of us, she was scared. It probably could have killed us, but you didn't let that happen. For that alone, you deserve to be remembered, and respected."

"I like to think that... Maybe some day, I'll be seen as a leader..."

"Jacob, you already are a leader."

"How so?"

"Most of the people that are now working together normally wouldn't do so. You're a rallying force that's uniting Gensokyo against a common enemy. If that isn't enough reason to say you're a leader, then I don't know what is."

"Kaguya, you always know what to say to cheer me up, don't you?"

"I'm just telling the truth, that's all." I couldn't help but smile.

"Well, thanks for reminding me."

"You're welcome."

"So, now that I have all of the frustration out of my system, shall we continue?"

"Of course." We continued. A few moments later, I heard another rustling in the foliage nearby.

"Hey, is someone there?"

"Huh?" Someone responded. It sounded like Kagerou, but I wasn't entirely certain, as her voice from the night before was rather frantic, and I didn't know what it normally sounded like. I approached, and I saw that it was her. In the light of day, and out of the heat of battle, I was able to make out her appearance. She retained the long dark hair she had from the night before, but her eyes were simply a matching brown, rather than being a piercing red. Her fingernails reverted to normal from being usable as claws. She also didn't have protruding canine ears. Her white and red dress was the same. Luckily, her reasoning was inhibited by neither her werewolf state, nor by hypnosis.

"Hey, something happened yesterday I think. I need to ask you a few questions." I informed her.

"I... I don't have any memory from yesterday." She spoke, anxiety present in her tone of voice.

"I think part of that may be that something decided to play games with your mind. Do you know who or what that was?"

"No. I don't have any recollection of such a thing." I scratched my chin, not sure what else there was to ask.

"Okay. I suppose that's all."

"Goodbye." With her farewell, Kaguya and I turned and left. I shook my head in disappointment as we were walking back.

"Jacob, what's wrong?" Kaguya spoke in a consoling manner.

"It's just that this could have helped out, but it's all been a wasted day... Well, it doesn't matter, I already can guess what set her up to it, I just didn't want to believe it..."

"What's that?"

"That disgusting creature can absorb the abilities of others, just as I can. Somehow, in our last conflict, it gained the ability to manipulate minds. I need to bring this conflict to a close soon..."

"Do you have any idea how to beat that creature?"

"Yes, I just need to get stronger, I just have to increase the maximum power I can exert, and I'll be fine."

"Oh, Eirin can probably make a potion to do just that. Of course the effects of such a thing would be only temporary."

"I'd need it for maybe a little over a second. That sounds perfect."

"Only a second? Well... That definitely can work, but what attack will only take a single second?"

"I'm going to destroy the creature's consciousness." I omitted the fact that I'd have to do similarly to myself.

"That's an unusual method of attack."

"It's the only way I've seen to be have a chance."

"If that is the case, then I will notify Eirin when we return."

"That'd be nice, thanks."

"You're welcome."

"So. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Hm... Well, I guess I'd like to talk about one thing. Well, Eirin was saying something about a new medicine she'd like to test, to analyze the abilities of someone. She was thinking you would make a good participant, as you have quite a few abilities."

"Yeah, I could give that a try. I also wondered about something..."

"What's that?"

"I was wondering if there's other places like Gensokyo, where they're separate from the normal world."

"Oh, I'm sure of it. The only unfortunate thing is that they're not always too friendly. The reason I know is that Reimu sometimes has to deal with such things."

"Huh... I guess I can help her with that in the future."

"I wouldn't be too eager if I were you, I've heard that places like that can be somewhat terrifying."

"Someone has to deal with them. You know where I'm going with this."

"Yes... I suppose you're right."

"Anyway, You need not worry about that for now. We still have greater issues that need to be resolved."

"I agree." We continued on toward Eientei. After a considerable amount of walking, we finally arrived. Kaguya led me to the clinic. She went into the back room with Eirin, and soon came back with a small vial of a light blue looking potion. "Can you come back with me for a moment?"

"Alright."

"Oh, take this." She handed me the vial.

"Okay. Do I need to drink this?"

"Not yet." I then followed her into the back room where Eirin was waiting.

"So, you're okay with helping me test this?" Eirin awaited my confirmation.

"Yes. I'd like to know the fullest potential of my strength." I agreed.

"Very well. First, you must drink the potion, then the analysis will be easier."

"Alright." I did as instructed.

"Okay, I'll begin." She reached out one arm towards me, I started to glow, and the light was draining into her hand. She picked up a sheet of paper, and the light flowed over it. She inspected it. It was blank when she took it off of the table, so I didn't know what she was looking at. She set it back on the table. I walked closer and saw that there was writing on it. It was a list consisting of my abilities. The abilities were the usage of immaterial blades, manipulation of minds, manipulation of time, manipulation of gravity, reinforcing body tissues, and copying abilities. There was one more thing on the list, but it did not show clearly on the paper. "I don't understand why the last ability is unreadable. Perhaps it's being suppressed?"

"That seems like it could be." It was a fairly long line, so I assumed the ability to be rather impressive. "What could it be?"

"I really don't know."

"Maybe once I defeat that monster, we can figure it out."

"Perhaps. Also, Kaguya asked me to make a potion for you. Excuse me for one moment." She left the room for a moment, and returned with a dark blue potion in an even smaller vial. "This potion is rather potent, so a large dosage would probably be ill-advised. This will be able to boost your strength to potentially three times your current limit. The problem is, the effects may last from either ten, to twenty seconds, varying based on the user. Kaguya said you had a certain attack in mind to use in tandem with the potion. I recommend drinking it just before commencing the attack, so that the effects last the full duration."

"Thanks Eirin. This will help a lot."

"You're welcome." I was tired from walking, as I hadn't fully awakened at the start of our exploration. I lay down on my bed once more.

"Jacob, if you want, you can move that into my room." Kaguya offered.

"Oh. Okay." I accepted. It practically was a cot, so I was easily able to lift it up. I moved it into Kaguya's room, and lay down. I held the slender vial in front of me. The glass was rather thin, and I assumed it to be fragile. I knew I needed to keep it safe. I took one of my spare shirts from my backpack, which was in Kaguya's room. I took of my shirt, put on the new one, and wrapped the vial in the shirt I had removed. I set the wrapped vial behind my pillow. I changed my pants as well, then lay down. I smiled again, thinking about the potion. With it, my plan came together the best I could have imagined. The next step was going to be confronting the monster, and settling the conflict, at all hazards. I closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep, knowing that the time was coming to finish what I had started.


	38. May This Next Battle

I woke up a few hours later. Kaguya was still awake, and was speaking with Eirin. I sat up, stretched, and rolled out of bed. I went to join the two, as there wasn't much else for me to do, and even less to accomplish by going back to sleep. I waited for a time to enter the room without appearing awkward. After a time, I walked into the back room of the clinic, thinking that they were there. I found them in the waiting room instead. I stood in the doorway for a few moments as the conversation continued on.

"Oh, hi Jacob!" Kaguya was the first to notice me, as usual.

"Hello Kaguya, hello Eirin."

"Hello Jacob." Eirin chimed in with the rest of the greetings.

"Oh, Jacob, we were just talking about ways we can celebrate after you defeat the monster. Do you have anything you'd like to do?" Kaguya inquired without a clue of my plan. It hurt me to hear her asking what I wanted to do, as she had no idea that I wouldn't be able to partake in the celebration.

"I don't know. Anything for that matter..." She didn't know that I was speaking in a literal sense. Anything would have been celebration, as it would have let me know that I was still alive. "I'm not too particular. Another tea party like the one we had before would be perfectly fine."

"That's a good idea. Is there anything else on your mind?"

"Not at the moment. The celebration doesn't have to be about just me, don't worry."

"Why wouldn't it?"

"I may be the one facing down the monster, but if it weren't for everyone else who helped me along the way, I would never have been able to get to where I am now. I'm in a position where I can bring this conflict to a close, and I couldn't have done it myself. The celebration should be for you and everyone else just as much as it should be for me, if not even more than it is for me."

"Jacob, sometimes you're almost too thoughtful."

"Sorry, it's just..." I hung my head as I prepared to explain my reasoning. "Kaguya... What if something happens to me, and I can't enjoy the celebration? I don't want to be the centerpiece of this event, because I might not make it back alive..."

"What? That's impossible! You drank the Hourai Elixir, nothing can kill you! Jacob, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm taking into account every possible outcome of the situation. I don't think you should rule that out so much."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that there may be a better chance of me dying than you're telling yourself. Kaguya, I want to come back, I know what I'll lose if I don't. I want to survive this just as much as you want me to, but sometimes, things don't go as planned, and losses are suffered."

"Jacob, please... Stop saying that you're going to die..."

"Okay... It's just... I don't want there to be a chance that the celebration goes wrong because I failed to survive..." Kaguya suddenly stood up.

"If... If you were to die, I would have stopped caring about the festivities before they even started... The celebration going wrong won't be what will make me cry, if you don't come back..." Her eyes started to water. I pulled her close, hugging her. I wanted to comfort her as much as I could. I hoped that she was starting to accept the fact that my unfavorable fate was indeed possible. Seeing her devastation at my mere mentioning of the concept of my death, I didn't know how she would bear my actual sacrifice. I felt horrible. I was trying to hint to her what was likely to happen to me, but she didn't understand. I couldn't tell her about my plan, because it would have devastated her to know that I had been planning out a method of destroying myself.

"Kaguya... Don't cry... I'm going to do my best to get back alive... I wish that I was the only one at risk in this fight, but I'm not... I have to put myself aside, and do whatever it takes to save the world from the monster... I can't consider the cost to myself, because the cost if I fail will be far greater than I can comprehend. Kaguya, I don't have a choice on this matter. My fate is decided, whether I will survive or not, I don't know... I need you to be ready, just in case I don't..."

"But... I don't want you to die... We still have so long to be together..."

"I know... I know we do... I don't want it to be cut short either..." A long moment of silence took place. The two of us continued to embrace. I closed my eyes to hold in my own tears.

"Why does it have to be this way...?"

"It is because of who I used to be... I must atone for my hateful past... To do so, I must save the world at whatever cost to myself..."

"But... What about the cost to me?"

"I wish that conflict was so perfect that there was no such thing as collateral damage... If only regret alone was enough to cleanse my history of that dark time... This is my fault..." I no longer could hold back my tears.

"The only one at fault is that monster... Please don't let your fate be so cruel..."

"I don't think that there is anything I can do about it... I don't know how anything is going to turn out. I just want you to be ready if the worst happens."

"I don't want it to happen..."

"I know, and neither do I... I just don't want you to be unable to live with the fact that I'm gone... I'm not saying that I'm not going to make it back, I'm just saying that it's a possibility, and I want you to be ready if that's how it ends up... Can you promise that you'll be strong for me?"

"I... I will... Can you promise that you'll do your best to survive?"

"Kaguya, I promise you that I will do my best to survive." She continued to hug me. She stopped crying, consoled by my promise. "Kaguya... The time I've spent in Gensokyo has been, quite possibly, some of the best time of my life... I more friends here than ever before, and I'm able to protect them. More to the point, you are one of them... I know that if I die in this fight, I'll lose all of my friends, and maybe less importantly, they'll all lose me. That alone is enough to open my eyes to the fact that this is a fight I'm not willing to lose. If that's not the motivation I need to make it through this, then nothing will suffice." Kaguya let go of me a few moments later.

"I don't want to lose you, but I figure you don't want to lose yourself anyway. I still would like the festivities to be in your honor..."

"If you wish, you may arrange the festivities so. Just don't make it too extravagant. I'm a man of simplicities."

"Okay. Do you have anything else in mind?"

"Nothing that I can think of." I suddenly twitched, then cringed as a sharp pain was sent down my spine.

"I see you..." The voice of the monster pierced my head with searing pain. I yelled, covering my ears as I collapsed, barely managing to land on one knee. "Are you ready to watch the world burn at last?"

"Never! I will stop you!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I already knew what was happening. The moment I reached my feet, a tremendous blast was audible as the world subsequently shook. A wave of force rushed past, causing Eientei's very foundation to creak, followed by the sound of toppling bamboo stalks. I sprinted to Kaguya's room, and took my old shirt, removed the vial, and stuffed it into my pocket. I ran outside, Kaguya following me. Upon exiting, I saw that the sky itself had become blood-red. I knew I needed to get to the Hakurei Shrine immediately. I took flight with enough energy that upon taking off, an explosion propelled me forward at intense speed. It was only going to be a matter of moments until my arrival, but I wasn't sure if it was enough. I maintained my speed and collected myself the best I could. The time had come to determine my fate.


	39. Bring Peace to Us All

I kept flying, not willing to slow down at all. Every second counted. I had barely flown clear of the fallen bamboo forest when I heard the sounds of combat. It was true, the time had arrived. I had arrived in time, but not a moment too early. Reimu and the monster were well above the shrine. Reimu was already trying to avoid barrages of bullets, and occasionally firing back when she was able. I attacked the creature from behind, hoping to be able to land several slashes on it. The moment I was in range, one of its arms punched me squarely in the chest, got a grip on me, and threw me into the ground below. I frantically checked my pocket. I luckily felt an intact vial where I was half-expecting to find shattered glass. I knew that I needed to be careful. I needed to engage the enemy directly, face to face, otherwise it would have chances to execute surprise maneuvers similar to the one that had just left me in a small crater. In an attempt to draw the monster's attention, I fired a heavily concentrated beam directly at it, visibly piercing through its torso, but as always, it regenerated. I knew that I couldn't kill it through any conventional means. The reason I didn't immediately rush forth and try to enact my plan was the fact that the monster also had the ability to manipulate minds. If I tried to manipulate its mind, it would be able to negate my attack as long as it had the strength. I needed to wear the monster down, and strike at a moment of weakness. I continued to fire, and realized that it wasn't diverting any attention away from Reimu. It was in a hurry to kill her. Luckily, I was in just as much of a hurry to defend her. I flew in front of her, and generated a shield around us, effectively stopping all of the incoming attacks.

"Thanks Jacob! I thought I was all alone for this..." She thanked me for my intervention.

"I didn't come all this way to not fight when the time of need came!" I assured her.

"You filthy little rat!" The monster wasn't so happy about my. "How many times must you try to deter me?! It is hopeless!"

"Your definition of hopeless is quite different from mine, in that case!" I retorted. "Why, you sound like you were counting on me not showing up! What did you expect of me?"

"I expected you to crawl back to your own world in fear while I carried out our mutual goal!"

"Were it mutual, I'd be shielding you instead! Look how that's turning out for you!"

"You don't realize all that there is for me to gain from this fight, do you?! If you did, you'd be quite disturbed, and would cower!"

"Why do you think that?"

"Don't you wonder at all why that one blurred ability didn't show up on that paper? Don't you wonder what it could be? Well, I'll dismiss your curiosity now, for it would be short lived regardless. That ability is the manipulation of the very concepts that are life and death! Only one of us may possess it! Your mere existence has forbade me from completing my task when I had hoped to long before! I've been trying to exterminate you since you entered this place that you call Gensokyo. You think those fairies kidnapped your little maid friend for no reason? The foolish creatures would have sworn I was one of their own."

"So, you disguised and had a bunch of fairies do your bidding? If only you understood the irony of thinking me to be a coward..."

"Had they succeeded in holding her for even a short time longer than they had, I would have been able to set her mind upon killing you, and you would have been dead there! You had to thwart that plan! Now it has come to this! With your immortality, you cannot hope to defeat me!"

"I'd not so quickly convince yourself so!" I then absorbed all the energy I had put into the shield. I diverted it to charging a focused beam attack. The monster did similarly, and we fired simultaneously. As the beams met, the clash of raw power was quite impressive. At the point the beams met, energy radiated in all directions, sending some of the force from the attack with it. Someone standing nearby would think that they were in a hurricane from the immense strength of the outward surging of power. As the beams were practically deflecting each other in all directions simultaneously, an incredible cacophony of pure chaos was emitted. The high pitched shrieking of the raw energy being reflected off of even more energy was enough to understand that combat had commenced. The sound of the outward force crashing against the surrounding area only added to the maddening song of battle "Reimu! Get back!" I had to practically scream to be heard over the furious collection of sounds that could send bystanders running in the opposite direction from miles away. Within moments, the only sound remaining momentarily was that of my own beam. I ceased the attack, and saw the cause for the monster's brief retreat. Kaguya had followed me, and just arrived at the scene. She had attacked the creature without being spotted. Unfortunately, having carried out the attack, she was noticed. The creature had grabbed her, and held her with both arms, one on her legs, the other on her upper half. I frantically charged.

"I'll snap you like a twig you little...!" The creature couldn't finish its sentence, as I had decapitated it with a blade. I quickly severed its shoulders from its body, freeing Kaguya. She flew up to meet me. Her face expressed a surprising amount of fear. I had never seen Kaguya fighting, but it seemed like she had just entered a battle that she was reconsidering her participation in. I flew down, landing upon the creature. I quickly drew the vial containing the potion that would boost my strength.

"I will end you for that!" Somehow, I maintained my relatively calm attitude from before Kaguya's intervention. As I prepared to take the cork out of the vial, I was kicked away. I landed on my feet, but the vial had been thrown out of my hand. I saw it fly over me. I knew I wouldn't have been able to catch it, so I stomped upon the ground, setting everyone off balance, save for myself. More importantly than stunning the monster, gravity had been suspended, saving the vial from crashing into the stone tiles in front of the Hakurei Shrine. The monster was three meters behind me at most, and it was trying to stop me, but I had the advantage. I dove for the vial, and caught it. I put it back into my pocket, and turned, and saw that the monster had closed the distance. I fell back, and kicked upward into its face, sending it skyward. I generated blades again, and flew straight up, preparing to slice the monster apart once more. Instead, I was met with a terrifying display of projectiles. It sent down at me not bullets, but blades similar to the ones I generated on my arms. I didn't have enough time to react to the sudden barrage of deadly missiles. I tried to dodge the nearest, but was unsuccessful, and it slashed through my left shoulder, all the way down between my left index finger and middle finger, leaving my arm hanging uselessly in two halves. I continued trying to dodge, but another blade cleanly sliced off my right foot. Seeing my weakness, the monster send forth a stream of bullets. I was still in shock from the immense pain of my injuries, and unable to dodge. I was sent into the ground by the first bullet, and the rest served only to punch holes through me. The barrage finally stopped, and I was incapacitated. I rolled over and tried to climb back up, but with only one arm and one leg in functioning capacity, it was hopeless. I would have needed to fly, but I was too weak. The creature landed next to me. It did not see that I had once again drawn out the vial of blue potion. It also didn't notice that I was drinking it. When I finished, I dropped the vial, and felt strength surge throughout my tattered being. I quickly flew up, slashed the limbs off of the creature, and wrapped my good arm around its swollen mass for a neck. "I'm sorry, Kaguya!" I shouted just before I commenced the plan. Time stopped, and I was able to establish a link to its mind. I wasn't alone in that state though. It only took a moment to realize that.

"What do you hope to accomplish through this?!" I heard its voice, but was undaunted in my goal.

"I'm going to end this, once and for all!"

"You fool! Don't you realize what will happen?!"

"What, that I'll die too? Yeah, that's a risk I'm willing to take!" I forced energy through to set forth my attack, but noticed it was being blocked. Trying to adapt, I diverted the energy to two separate attacks, and noticed that one was mostly unhindered. I felt the reflection of energy on my own mind. I tried my best to divert the sudden incoming energy towards the mental scar tissue that was my previous hateful nature. I forced more and more power through, and within moments, the sound for me was similar to that of the clashing of the beam attacks the monster and I fired. I experienced a brief rush of extreme pain, and then, there was a bright flash as I felt a burst inside of my head. Then, all was dark.


	40. A Devastating Victory

My body, and that of the monster, fell simultaneously. Unfortunately, I seemed to be much more affected by the attack than the enemy. I had overloaded myself to the point that some arteries had burst. Blood flowed in rivulets out through my nose, ears, mouth, and even my eyes. Kaguya landed next to my body, covering her mouth. She fell to her knees next to me.

"Oh wow... He knocked himself out good, didn't he...?" Reimu worriedly asked, trying her best to comfort Kaguya with the thought that she wasn't staring at a corpse. She lifted my right arm by the wrist, and felt for a pulse. She didn't find one.

"He... He's... His heart... He can't be..." Tears freely flowed down her face as she realized that what I had said was true, that my death was a possibility. She lifted my body up by the shoulders, trying to find life in my eyes, which had rolled back in their sockets. "Jacob! I don't want it to end like this! Please wake up!" She screamed to her lungs' fullest, wanting me to come back.

"Kaguya... He's... He's gone..." Reimu tried to explain. She trying to hold back her own tears, finding only partial success in doing so.

"No! We have to bring him to Eirin! It can't happen this way!" The two looked at the body of the monster as it turned to dust, and blew away with the wind. The sky's coloration reverted to normal. The night was upon the dismal battleground. "It... It killed the monster... Is this what he planned...? He was trying to warn me that this could happen, and I made him change the subject..."

"He... He drank the Elixir, right? He should be regenerating, shouldn't he? Maybe just give him some time! I'm sure he'll spring up just fine in a few minutes!" Reimu attempted to comfort Kaguya.

"Yes... You're right... Maybe he just needs time..." Kaguya agreed. She closed my eyelids, and then lifted my body, and flew with it to Eientei, joined by Reimu. Eirin was picking up some items that had been knocked over by the wave of force that was followed by the reddening of the sky. Eirin immediately was rendered speechless at the sight of Kaguya carrying my limp body through the clinic. Kaguya set me on one of the hospital beds. "Eirin, he doesn't have a pulse... Shouldn't he have regenerated by now?"

"How long has he been this way?" Eirin's calm demeanor was on the verge of collapse, as she joined the other two in their shedding of tears.

"Maybe five minutes... How long did it used to take me to come back?"

"I don't know, maybe thirty seconds at worst case..." Eirin checked for a pulse. "He... He does have a pulse, but it's incredibly faint..."

"Can we wake him up?" Kaguya brimmed with hope at Eirin's statement.

"I... I don't know... It's not natural for a heartbeat to be at this level. I should diagnose his injuries... You may want to step into the waiting room..." Kaguya and Reimu left into the waiting room as suggested. Eirin began to scan over my injuries in a similar way as she did for analyzing my abilities, only that it didn't require the ingestion of a potion. Eirin went into the waiting room to meet the others.

"What is it? Is he going to be okay?"

"I... I think this is the closest to life he will ever be again... His brain is unresponsive... He's in a coma..." The attack had worked exactly to plan, except for the aftermath. I could not have even begun to plan it in a way that wouldn't have left Kaguya devastated.

"Eirin... There has to be a way..."

"Kaguya, I don't know how to reverse a coma like this... His body is alive, but he isn't conscious... I'm sorry Kaguya... There's nothing I can do for him..." Kaguya went back into the clinic, and stood next to me, watching over me.

"Eirin... He can't die like this... Try speeding his heart up, get his basic functions up to the point that he can wake up!"

"Kaguya, that won't work..."

"Eirin, please! I beg you, at least try!"

"I... I will..." Kaguya ran to her bedroom while still bawling. Eirin attempted to use several different types of treatment to accelerate my body's functions, but to no avail. My brain would not allow them to respond to any stimuli, and they remained constant. Eirin bandaged my wounds, then went to sleep. Reimu, remembering that she was a guest, slept in the waiting room.

* * *

Over the next week, all of my friends in Gensokyo came to Eientei. The bamboo forest mysteriously had not recovered from having been toppled, as if it were touched by a wave of death. With the forest in ruin, my friends were able to find Eientei with little difficulty, and were able to visit me. They looked over me as if I were in viewing for my funeral. Luckily, I was in presentable condition. My wounds had healed, as my body was still carrying out basic functions. Kaguya didn't stop crying, however. Regardless of the high amount of respect I was given by my friends, and all the support they offered her, she continued to lament my sacrifice. She sat in her room, crying. Most of my friends were there with her, trying to console her. She kept crying long into the night, still devastated by the fact that I was only partially alive, and that there was no way to bring me back.


	41. Long Awaited Peace

That night, as my body fully healed, I finally came to my senses. I inspected my surroundings, or rather, the lack thereof. I saw nothing, but I was conscious in some way. I was able to think, but I knew I was not in control of my body. I figured that I wasn't technically dead, as if I were, I probably would have not been able to think at all, or I would have been somewhere that wasn't just a void full of nothing more than darkness.

"Well..." I thought to myself. "Here I am, nothingness, for all of eternity... If only there had been another way... I wonder how Kaguya's doing... I wish I had been able to tell her... At least it was a worthy sacrifice. I wonder, if what that monster said has any meaning. I wonder if I can use that ability now, or any for that matter..." My last gained ability was to manipulate life and death, and I decided to try to use it in an attempt to regain what I had lost, which was my future. Having assumed the plan to have successfully worked, I also assumed the prerequisites for gaining the ability had been met. By my guess, the monster was dead, and that left me in full control of my newest ability. Due to how magic was controlled, I figured that having a body was potentially unnecessary for the usage of abilities. I knew that I had only one chance, so I put the attempt forth. I quickly killed my unconscious body, shutting it down completely. Being outside of my body, it seemed like nothing more than a blink, but I apparently had gone unconscious and regained consciousness within a single second. I wasn't sure whether or not it had worked, then suddenly, I started to feel different. I was getting pulled back into existence. After some time, I could feel that I was breathing, and could tell I was back in my body. I coughed quietly as I opened my eyes. My jaw dropped in amazement at my success. I had successfully been revived. The Hourai Elixir had done its part in returning me. I wasn't even dead to begin with, but once again, I became aware when I was ready, and my body had healed. Once I was awake, I took only one simple action, and I was restored. I carefully got out of bed. It was nighttime outside, and I heard Kaguya weeping in her room. I silently walked towards her location. I found the door to be closed, and I knew that there was no way I could enter subtly. I swallowed as I prepared to show Kaguya that I had miraculously awakened. I slid the door open, stepped into the room. Silence fell, Kaguya stopped sobbing and gasped. All of my friends, everyone I had met in Gensokyo was in her room. Even Seiga was there. Despite their presence, the only sounds audible were my footsteps as I walked a bit closer to Kaguya. Tears streaked down my face, in both worry, and joy. I was utterly relieved to see Kaguya, but was terrified that she would have looked upon me unfavorably for having abandoned her. She stood up, and stared at me in complete shock. She didn't yet show a smile, letting my worry grow a slight bit more. She also was shedding tears noticeably, helping me to realize that she just wanted me back, and didn't care so much about me abandoning her, as she cared that I was gone.

"Jacob... Do... Do you know who I am...? Do you remember me?" Her words alleviated my fear that she may have hated me for sacrificing myself. With that fear gone, I did something I never truly had envisioned myself doing. I made my way over to her, wrapped my arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her. She returned said display of affection. By the time we let go of each other, and opened our eyes, Kaguya's question was answered, as was my question of whether or not I would be able to spend eternity with her.

"Kaguya, I'd never be able to forget you, no matter what..."

"Jacob... I'm so glad you're okay..."

"I am too... I'm so sorry that I had to leave you..."

"Jacob... You came back... That makes up for the sadness infinitely over again..." I dried my tears, but Kaguya wasn't bothered to be caught with hers in the emotional reunion.

"I'm glad that's the case, because I'm never leaving you like that again. I'm staying right here with you, where I belong."

"The monster is gone, now we can live in peace. Wait, now that you're back, will the monster eventually return too?"

"Kaguya, by my understanding, it was created at the same time that the hateful nature I used to host was created. It grew stronger just before the time of my arrival to Gensokyo because of the fact that I was afraid of that nature resurfacing in me. Now, that hateful nature is dead, if it still even remains as a scar upon my mind. That part of me is gone now. The monster should stay away unless I go back to that old way of life. Trust me when I say this, I have no reason to go back to that old way of living."

"So it's gone forever?"

"I'd say so, but let's not dwell on that monster any longer. Now, we've got all of eternity ahead of us. I was afraid I had lost that."

"Now that you know you haven't, what should we do?"

"That tea party is a start, but I'm sure that lots of things are going to come to mind." I assured her with a smile. We then shared another kiss. Everyone in the room was also getting caught up in the emotional moment. When I checked to see who all was in the room, not a single person was dry-eyed, but all had a smile to show that they were happy for Kaguya and me. It was a scenario better than any I had imagined occurring after I defeated the monster, but I was too grateful to even think about what I had narrowly avoided. I knew that the future could only hold greater things. The worst was behind me, and it was onward to a better life from there. I had defeated my own metaphorical demons, and I didn't have to deal with any of my frustrations from the outside world any more. The time had arrived to stop worrying about crisis, and to start building a life for myself.


	42. Denouement

Even upon waking up the day after being revived. I could still hardly believe what all had transpired. Over the course of a few months, starting from my arrival to Japan, I had gone from feeling insignificant, and not even caring whether or not I became anything important, to saving Earth, Gensokyo, and even the Moon for that matter. As I thought to myself about my accomplishments, I smiled, knowing I had done good, and made my mark upon the world at last. Yes, I was saving the world from myself, but it was even amazing to think that I was capable of creating a force capable of destroying the world, all within my own mind. Years of torment can lead to terrible things, but I doubted that any bully would have suspected that what they did to me would have led to the threat of world destruction. Fortunately, the good side of me prevailed.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Kaguya happily greeted me.

"Quite well. As for you?" I replied, not muttering, which was an unusual thing for me in the morning.

"I slept well also." She stood up, and looked out a window. "The bamboo forest is still yet to grow back. I'm worried about it... If it doesn't grow back, then Eientei will be easy to find, which could be a problem..."  
"How so?"

"Did I tell you that at one point, emissaries from the Moon were looking for me to take me back to the lunar capital?"

"Yes, you did in fact. That didn't occur to me. That really could be a problem. Well, I guess I can try something." I stood up.

"What's that?"

"Well, would Eirin like to run a second analysis of my abilities? There's something I want to clarify."

"Perhaps. What is it you're unsure about?"

"That last ability, the one that showed up on the paper, but was unreadable. I think the results should be different now."

"Oh, I should come with, I also was wondering about that when I saw it. I wonder what it could be."

"Well, let's go find out." Kaguya stood up, and followed me to the clinic area again. Eirin met us there, as she was already in the clinic, preparing to receive patients. "Good morning Eirin."

"Good morning Jacob. Is there something you need?" Eirin asked, not showing any signs of morning drowsiness.

"Well, actually, I was wondering if you'd like to run a second test on my abilities. I'm wondering if the last ability on the list is what I think it is."

"Oh, of course. One moment please." She left the room and returned with another vial of the light blue potion I drank the first time. "Similar to the last time, you'll need to drink this." She handed me the potion.

"Alright." I drank the potion, and Eirin got a sheet of paper, repeated the procedure of scanning through my abilities. She checked the paper, and I saw her eyes widen in response.

"Oh my..."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just... Well, at least you have this ability, and not someone I wouldn't trust with it." She showed the paper to Kaguya and me. The final ability was clearly readable. It was the manipulation of life and death. Kaguya also appeared shocked.

"Ah. Just as I had guessed."

"What do you mean?" Kaguya asked. "How did you guess that was your last ability?"

"During the last confrontation with the monster, it explained that it and I were both contested over that ability. If I had died, the monster would have gained it, and since it died, I gained the ability. Also I had to use it to revive myself while I was unconscious."

"Oh..."

"You seem nervous... Kaguya, do you not trust me with this ability?"

"No, it's not that. Of course I trust you. It's just that I never knew that abilities could get to that level of power... Manipulating life and death..."

"Yeah, I don't know how it was created, but it's unnerving hearing it, but don't worry, everything will be fine."

"I believe you."

"Good. I'll go try to see what I can do for the forest." I walked outside, and saw that the fallen stalks were drying out, and the leaves were all withered. I reached one hand out forward, and a stream of green energy flowed from my hand, and spread out to encompass the expanse of the ruined forest. Kaguya walked up behind me.

"Is it working?"

"I don't know yet." Eventually, I was able to detect life around me. "I think so, we should wait to see."

"Alright. It'll be back by the end of the hour if you revived all of it."

"Oh, okay. Is there anything you'd like to do between now and then?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess we could prepare for the celebration."

"Oh, that's right, do you need any help?"

"Well, I suppose if you would like to help prepare, I could use some help preparing the refreshments."

"Oh, sure. Is there anything you need now?"

"Well, not right now. We should probably go to the kitchen though."

"Okay." I followed her into the kitchen. It wasn't like the kitchen in my home, obviously. There was no refrigerator, and it was still funny to think that there was no running water. There was a stove, but it was to be powered by a fire instead of electricity.

"Could you go get some water from the well for me?"

"Oh. Sure." She retrieved a bucket from near the stove, and handed it to me.

"Here, you know where it is, right?"

"I think it's near the entrance, correct?"

"Yes, you should be able to see it once you're outside."

"Alright." I went outside, and saw it. It was of course, a traditional well, not a mechanical one that was in the yard of my home in the outside world. I always had wondered what it would have been like to live without electrical appliances, and I actually felt fine about it. That may have just been because my survival was a guarantee, and it wasn't like we were going to starve to death if I didn't properly fetch water for cooking. Regardless, I wasn't going to argue with doing chores. There was already a bucket hanging in the well, but I assumed I was not supposed to remove it, so I used the bucket Kaguya had given me. I filled the bucket that was already in the well, then poured the water from that bucket into the one Kaguya gave me. I brought it back to the kitchen. Kaguya was putting some dry bamboo in the oven as kindling. "I've got the water." I notified her.

"Oh. one moment." She stopped what she was doing, and picked up pot. She walked over and opened the lid. I poured the water in. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She went back to the stove and placed it on what seemed to be a chimney. I shrugged.

"By the way, are there any significant bodies of water nearby?"

"I suppose the lake surrounding the Misty Lake, which surrounds the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Why do you ask?"

"It's just with all the fighting, I guess I worked up a bit of a smell. Since there's no running water here, I've not been able to take a shower in a long time. You wouldn't mind if I used the bucket to just pour water on myself to rinse off, would you?"

"No, that's fine. I didn't notice any odd smell about you though."

"I guess it might just be me." It was odd to see Kaguya start to try lighting a fire with what looked like a piece of flint. All of Eientei seemed to be pretty far in the past, except for the clinic. The vials of potions were made of glass as clear as any that modern technology could make, there were cots for patients, well, they were pretty much mattresses on very short bed frames. Furthermore, I assumed that there probably was some equipment necessary for the making of the potions and medicine. I had guessed that Eirin was more used to a more modern Lunarian society, as Kaguya said that Eirin came to Earth more recently than herself. I was about to walk out, when I heard Kaguya whimpering. "Is something wrong Kaguya?!"

"I accidentally cut my finger, don't worry..."

"Uh, sorry for yelling, but Kaguya, I've been able to use flint to light fires before. How about you let me handle that?"

"Oh. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh, mind if I try something?"

"No, what is it?"

"I'll see if I can't use that new ability of mine to help with that cut."

"Hm. I wonder if that would work. Okay, if you want to try." She held out her right hand, which had a cut on her thumb. I held my hand out next to it, and started to transfer life energy to the wound like I had to the forest. In a short moment, the cut had healed. I wetted my hand with some of the water in the pot, and cleaned the blood off of Kaguya's hand. "Well, remember what I said, about how I love you because you're different from the other humans I used to have to deal with?"

"Yes. I'd never forget such a moving compliment."

"Well, this is one of the things I was talking about... I just cut my thumb on accident, and you were willing to take over for me, and not even out of necessity."

"Am I not expected to help you whenever I can?"

"Well, I knew you would help me, and I know you always will, because that's the kind of person you are. Aside from you, I wouldn't expect such kind treatment."

"You don't have to exaggerate, Kaguya. You make it sound like I just saved you from danger."

"Oh. I'm sorry. It's just that I'm still very happy that you care about me."

"It's okay, and I'm glad that you appreciate it. The thing is that I just don't want you to expect less from me. I used to have low expectations of myself, and that wasn't really a fun part of my life. I want to bring my best all the time, and in everything. I don't want you to live in a fear that I won't do whatever I can to make you happy, because that's just what I'll strive for."

"Aren't you worried about me becoming spoiled?"

"Kaguya, even if you were spoiled, I'd love you none the less." Kaguya hugged me again, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll see if I can't get this fire lit now."

"Okay, do you want me to stay here with you?"

"You can do whatever you want, this will just take me a moment." I then used a small iron stick that was near the stove. I struck the piece of flint and the rod together a few times, and the dried leaves from the bamboo caught, and the fire began to sustain itself. "Alright, done."

"That was fast."

"I suppose. Should I put something else in the fire?"

"I can handle that, don't worry. Thanks for helping."

"No problem. Would you like me to wait here in case there's anything else to be done?"

"You don't have to, but if you want to, feel free."

"I think I'll just go wash off, then I'll be right back." I then brought the bucket back to the well, filled it with water, took my shirt off, then dumped it out on my head. I repeated the process a few times, then put my shirt back on and went inside. For the next few hours, I helped her prepare more for the celebration. The strangest thing I ended up doing was pounding rice into a paste with a mallet. Once we were done, Kaguya and I went back to the room we were sharing. "Oh. My bed still is on its frame..." I observed.

"Is that a problem?"

"Well, it's just that I don't see a point in being half a foot above you when I'm sleeping. Your bed doesn't have a frame."

"Well, if you want, you can take the mattress out of the frame."

"Also, this way I won't be in so much pain if I fall off the side."

"I suppose that's a benefit."

"Yeah, maybe not much, but it helps." I then did as planned, and removed the mattress, and placed it next to Kaguya's bed, which was practically a mattress." The two of lay down and waited for the others to arrive. Eventually they all arrived. Kaguya and I brought out the refreshments we had prepared. After a while, Kaguya and I were standing in the open doorway of the room, watching all of our friends.

"It's hard to think that before this whole crisis with the monster, some mistrust would be in the room. You brought everyone together."

"It wasn't just me though. There's something I want to do." I walked outside for a moment, and quickly got more water from the well. I looked about, and saw that the bamboo forest was already growing back. I took a drink, as I was starting to become slightly nervous, due to a thought I was planning to enact. I used the same method of conjuring items, and conjured a couple of gold rings. I planned to propose to Kaguya, and that night. I put the rings into my pocket. I went back into Eientei, and walked over to Kaguya.

"Oh. Hey Jacob."

"Kaguya..." I prepared myself, trying to steady my nerves. "There's something I've been wanting to do for a while. You may not get the first part of this, it may just have to do with culture and everything, but..." I took one of the rings from my pocket. I knelt down on one knee, and held the ring before her. "I won't let that stop me from asking you this question... Kaguya... Will you marry me?" Silence fell in the room with all of our friends. Kaguya covered her mouth with both of her hands, and her eyes widened. She lowered her hands for a moment, and I saw that she was smiling.

"Yes, Jacob! Yes I will!" I took her left hand, and put one of the rings on her finger. I took the second ring out, and wordlessly, she put it on my corresponding finger. Once more, in front of all of our friends, we shared yet another kiss. We let go of each other, and we still held each other's hands.

"Then. It looks like we're going to get our eternity together after all..." We shared another kiss. After some time, our friends left, and the two of us went to bed.

* * *

The marriage ceremony was held less than a week later. It took place at the Hakurei Shrine, where my adventure in Gensokyo had started. Yukari was somehow in possession of a video camera, and recorded the event. With her recommendation, and my approval, she sent footage of it to my family as a testament to my continued existence. I wrote a letter along with it.

* * *

To my dear family

I'm happy to inform you that I am, in fact, still alive. I have done more in the recent time than you may be able to understand. I wish to tell you that I am no longer burdened. I now have new obligations, and shall remain where I reside. I want you to know that I'm happy, and that you have no need to worry about me. I have established a life here, and I can't leave it now. I want you to know that I will never forget you, and I will do my best to visit you occasionally. Just know that I am alive and well.

Your son, Jacob

* * *

My peaceful life was in reach, and I fully planned to make the most of it.

* * *

A brief note from the author.

First, I would like to clarify that family issues were among the fictional parts of the story. I have a perfectly fine relationship with my family, nor do I possess a freeloading cousin. With my hopefully unnecessary babble aside, I hope you enjoyed this story, as I enjoyed writing it. I personally have plans to continue the story, but I will likely not be adding any more chapters onto this specific one, and continuations will be in the form of separate new stories. Feel free to let me know how you feel about this, and once again, I hope you enjoyed reading.


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